A Baby for the Alpha Read online

  He’d watched Piper grow into motherhood with astounding strength and grace. She seemed to instinctively know what Theo needed, and, at times where he was left pacing and rocking with the baby, asking him if he was hungry or needed his diaper changing—as though the kid could answer—she’d be able to swoop in and stop him crying. Occasionally, the thought popped into his head that Theo might understand that Carter wasn’t his real father, but he pushed it away. Theo’s real father was a nasty son of a bitch who didn’t deserve either Piper or Theo in his life. He’d seen to that when he’d spent years abusing Piper, and there was no point where Carter felt guilty. If anything, the main thing Carter felt was anger, and only Piper’s insistence for him to leave things well alone stopped him from tracking Piper’s ex down and beating the shit out of him.

  Carter had taken to sleeping in the bed with Piper, leaving his own bed on the other side of the house cold and empty. Theo woke them both several times a night, but neither of them minded. James stepped in to help with the workload, running the pack when the baby had been up most of the night, and Carter and Piper took turns napping.

  There was affection between them, and they’d shared many kisses, but that was as far as things had gotten between them physically. After the birth, he’d kind of felt as though Piper’s body belonged to Theo, and he didn’t want to encroach on that until Piper was one hundred percent ready.

  That wasn't saying he didn’t want her. He wanted her desperately. He ached for her with every fiber of his being, but his relationship with her was more important than getting what he needed physically. He’d never done this before, establishing a relationship with a woman before they’d even had sex. Normally, sex was the first thing to happen, and then they figured out if they actually liked each other. Numerous times after they had shared a kiss and he’d forced himself to break away, he’d gone into the shower and masturbated furiously to get rid of his aching hard-on. But he respected her need to mother Theo.

  She surprised him one afternoon while Theo was taking his nap. “What do you think of me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Am I just Theo’s mother to you, or something more?”

  Her question astonished him. “You’re everything to me. Theo’s mother, of course, but my world as well.”

  She held his gaze. “Then why don’t you touch me?”

  The muscles in his shoulders tensed. “I was leaving it up to you. I didn’t want you to think I was pushing things too soon.”

  A smile spread across her beautiful face. “Too soon. Carter, how long has it been now? A couple of months? I don’t think anytime from now could be too soon.”

  He placed his hand against her cheek, staring into her eyes. “What does that mean? You’re ready?”

  “Carter, I’ve been ready since the moment we met.”

  He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Her arms snaked around the back of his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Just the mention of sex had gotten blood flowing to his cock, and there was no way she wouldn’t be able to feel how much he wanted her pressing into her stomach. Not that he minded. He wanted her to see how much he’d desired her, how it had never been that he didn’t want her, only that he’d been holding himself back, waiting for her.

  Their kiss deepened, and Piper’s lips parted, her tongue darting out to touch his. Desire shot through him, and a groan escaped his mouth. He’d spent so long imagining this moment, and there was nothing he would change.

  He drew back, but only long enough to pull his t-shirt over his head. Then he was kissing her again, his fingers laced in the soft, silky strands of her striking hair. His fingers reached her shoulders, and he dragged both the straps of the sleeveless top she wore, together with her bra, down her arms. Her breasts spilled from the top, and he reached for them, finally getting his hands on the gloriously soft mounds.

  He lifted her, his hands around the backs of her thighs, her legs around his hips, still kissing, and carried her to the bed. He dumped her on her back, with him leaning over her. Her hands traced the muscles of his shoulders and back, running over every inch of his skin, as though she was blind and trying to see him through her hands. He was already addicted to her touch, knowing he wanted to feel her fingers against his skin for the rest of his life.

  He ducked his head to her swollen breasts, the big, milky nipples, the pale skin with lines of blue veins close beneath the surface. He circled her nipple with his tongue, feeling the large areola crinkle beneath his caress, and then sucked the hardened nub into his mouth, tasting her milk on his palate. She was incredible. Beautiful, sexy, and had gone through so much to give her child a life. He laved her nipple with his tongue, using his hand to massage her other breast with his hand, squeezing and rolling, before moving his mouth over and repeating. Piper moaned, her back arching, pressing her breasts up for his administrations. He loved hearing those sounds coming from her mouth, and knowing he was the one to cause them.

  He lifted his mouth from her, rolled her top off fully, and then got to work on her jeans. He popped the button and yanked them from her hips, leaving her in only her panties. Then a thought went through his head, and he paused.

  “Are you...? He didn’t know how to ask without completely ruining the moment.

  She took his hand and guided it down. “It’s okay, Carter. We heal fast, remember? Same goes for childbirth. I’m good as new.”

  She half sat to pull his face toward hers, and she kissed him this time, her mouth hungry for him. She was so beautiful and he wanted her so badly, all trepidation fled his mind. He slid his hand across her stomach, down beyond the waistband of her panties. His fingers slid through the patch of curls at the juncture of her thighs, and then dipped lower, into her wet heat. His cock throbbed, and he groaned against her mouth.

  Piper let out a gasp as his digits speared her. Her fingers dug tight into his shoulder, her nails creating little ellipses in his skin. Her breath came faster, and he felt as though his dick was going to burst from his jeans. It had been awhile, but he didn’t want the embarrassment of creaming his pants just because he’d finally gotten his fingers inside her. She was so sexy, though, her cheeks flushed, those big, swollen breasts bouncing at the movement of his fingers pushing harder and faster into her tight channel. She’d been right when she said shifters even healed fast from childbirth. If he didn’t know Theo was sleeping in the nursery, he’d never have known.

  “I’m going to come,” she gasped, her breath leaving her body in tiny moans. “Oh, God, Carter. Don’t stop.”

  He had no intention of stopping, not as she unraveled around him, her head flung back, her back arched, pushing her tits into his face for him to feast on. His fingers were wet—dripping, in fact—and he knew he didn’t need to worry about hurting her now as he took her.

  “Oh, my God, Carter,” she managed after she’d come back down. “You have no idea how long it’s been since I had an orgasm.”

  He grinned down at her while he flicked the buckle of his belt open. The long ridge of his erection was clearly visible beneath the denim of his jeans. “Well, I hear they’re like buses, ’cause two are about to come along at once.”

  She laughed and smacked her palm to her forehead. “Okay, stop talking now. You’re almost too cheesy to have sex with.”

  He’d finished with his belt, and popped the button of his jeans and unzipped his fly. He pulled the jeans from his hips, letting them fall to the floor. His cock sprung out, thick and erect, pre-cum shining from the slit. He watched her gaze drop to his dick, her lips parting a fraction, her pink tongue flicking out across her lower lip.

  “How about now?” he asked.

  She reached for him. “I suddenly think I like buses.”

  They both grinned as he kneeled on the bed. He grabbed her ankles and yanked her down, pulling her so he slotted between her thighs. The scent of her—that same vanilla and cookies scent, but this time mixed with something muskier—
made him almost lose his mind. He wanted to taste her, but he also wanted to fuck her, and it had been too long for him to wait any longer.

  He kissed her again and reached between them, positioning himself at her entrance. She pushed her hips up to him, and he matched her movement, the head of his cock pressed against her entrance. She was so wet, and he eased inside her, still cautious about not wanting to hurt. Fuck, she felt good, though.

  “It’s okay,” she said, her mouth against his ear, her tits pushing against his chest. “I’m not going to break.”

  That was all the encouragement he needed. He shunted forward, sliding the whole of his shaft deep inside her. They held still for a moment, letting her get used to his size, and his mind spun at the feel of her clamped around his cock. God, he could spend every moment for the rest of his life buried deep inside her, and he would die a happy man.

  Her feet were around his hips, her heels digging into the hard muscle of his ass as he moved inside her. Their movements matched perfectly, their breathing ragged. One of his hands was knotted in her hair, the other was beneath her, his fingers dug into her ass cheek, yanking her up against him.

  Piper cried out, and he felt her internal muscles tighten around him. Finally, he let himself go. His asshole, balls, right down his perineum, tightened and hot semen shot up through his cock. He pounded her so hard he thought they might both shatter. The noise he made wasn’t human, and he didn’t even care. He knew he was going to lose it. His orgasm was so powerful, he lost control of his movements and thoughts. He was giving himself to her in a way he’d never done with any woman before, coming hard inside her, and giving her a piece of his essence, his energy, his soul as he did so. He loved this woman, and he would give her every part of him, if he could.

  Never had his wolf been so close to the surface while he’d remained in human form, and he could feel the urge to shift dangerously close. But then the orgasm faded, and the need to shift melted from him as well.

  He lowered himself to one side and pulled Piper into his arms. They lay together, both chests heaving as they tried to catch their breath.

  “That was incredible,” she said.

  He turned to kiss her, taking in the sight of her beautiful face, her pink, flushed cheeks, her perfect mouth. His chest contracted with emotion, and he knew he had to say the words. It had already been too long.

  “You’re so fucking amazing. I love you. I love every inch of you.”

  “I love you, too, Carter. I never thought I would be able to love a man, not after everything I went through, but you surprised me at every moment. You gave me faith in other people again. You gave me hope.”

  “I love you, Piper. You and Theo, too. It’ll always be the three of us, okay? Nothing is ever going to take that away.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “WILL YOU COME OUT INTO the forest with me?” Piper asked Carter one day as they were preparing breakfast. “It’s been months since I last shifted, and now that I’m no longer pregnant, and Theo is getting bigger, my wolf is starting to get restless.”

  He grinned at her, that grin she had come to love. “I can’t think of any way I’d rather spend the day. What about Theo, though?”

  “I’ve already asked Anna if she’ll watch him for a couple of hours, and she said she’d love to.”

  He caught her around the waist and planted a kiss on her mouth. “So that’s a date, then.”

  She laughed. “Do you ever think that we did this all the wrong way around?”

  “Yeah, but who gives a shit? I never much like conformity, anyway.”

  “Nah, me either.”

  The doorbell rang. It was Anna.

  Theo was smiling now, and rewarded his new babysitter with a big, gummy grin.

  “You sure you’re going to be okay?” Piper asked.

  “Absolutely. We’re going to have a ton of fun, aren’t we Theo?” Anna had slipped into baby-talk, just as most of them did when they were talking to the boy.

  “Great. We’ll be two hours, at the most. There’s a bottle of expressed milk in the refrigerator, so it just needs to be put in hot water to warm it up, and his diapers and wipes are all in the change bag.” She tried to think if she’d forgotten anything. “Oh, and you can find all his changes of clothes in the nursery.”

  The other woman flapped a hand. “I think I could have figured that one out for myself, Piper,” she said, laughing. “Now go, before I change my mind.”

  “You’re an angel. Thank you.”

  They left the house, hand in hand, and Carter dragged her over to his motorcycle. She climbed on the back, and he kicked it to life, the machine roaring beneath her. Piper felt like a completely different person than the one she’d been when Carter had first found her. That terrified young woman had nothing in common with the woman she was now. A mother. A mate. A viable member of the Silver Creek pack. She’d never believed she deserved such happiness.

  Carter rode the bike the short distance to the edge of the forest, where he’d left his bike on the first day they’d met. They climbed off, and she grinned up excitedly at him. It was the first time they’d gone into the forest with something other than rescue on their minds.

  “Now you’re going to get naked, and I can’t even have sex with you,” he said reproachfully.

  She gave a little shimmy as she peeled off her top. “I never said that was off the table, but you might have to catch me first.”

  “Now, that sounds like a challenge I can’t refuse,” he growled.

  Piper threw her top to one side and got to work on her jeans, stopping to hop on one leg to pull them off, kicking her shoes off as well. Then she was moving again, ridding herself of her underwear as she went, knowing she was putting on a show for Carter and loving every minute of it.

  As she threw her bra away, she finally allowed her wolf to rise to the surface. She sprang forward, and as her feet hit the ground, she’d morphed into the silver wolf that lived within her. From the growl behind her, she assumed Carter had also shifted, and she swung her head around to see the big, black wolf right on her tail. He darted forward and gave the backs of her legs a playful nip.

  Then they were running, following scents and chasing rabbits. Two powerful animals, shoulder to shoulder, her noticeably smaller, but with him reducing his pace so they could run together.

  Euphoria raced through her as the wind tore its fingers through her fur, and she ran with a freedom she’d never experienced before. She’d never been allowed to do this in her old life—just give in to her wilder side—and she loved every minute of it.

  With their breath heaving, the two of them slowed to a trot.

  Carter bumped up against her side, letting out a whine, and then nuzzled her mouth, licking at her nose, and she knew he was inhaling all the pheromones she gave off. He nipped at her fur, and Piper returned the gesture. She knew what he wanted, and slowed her pace again, coming to a standstill.

  Carter moved up behind her and mounted her as a wolf, his front paws on her back, pressing her down with the weight of his body. He bit at the back of her neck, claiming her for his own.

  The moment before he penetrated her, they both morphed back to human form, so the fur became the warm skin of his chest, which pressed against her smooth back. The sharp teeth became blunt as he bit the side of her neck, his erect cock pushing between her folds and spearing her. She took a gasp of breath in response to both the pain from him biting her, and the rough penetration, but quickly the pain morphed to pleasure. God, she didn’t think she’d ever get bored of the feel of him inside her.

  Still in animal mode, Carter growled above her as he thrust hard. There was something primal about them rutting on their hands and knees in the dirt, and she knew how this would be—rough, fast, satisfying. His arms wrapped around her, one across her breasts, his fingers clamping one of her nipples, and the other between her thighs to press on her clit. The feeling of him all over her sent her wild, and she gave voice to her pleasure, knowing
they were in the middle of nowhere and only forest animals would hear her.

  Her orgasm hit her hard and fast, making her toes curl in the dirt, and her fingers claw into the mud. Her inner muscles clamped down hard on Carter’s cock, and he gave a primal grunt as he slammed into her, riding her climax. Then she felt his cock jerk, and heat pooled at her core as he emptied his cum deep inside her body.

  They both fell still, breathing hard, Carter’s sweaty chest still pressed against her back. He kissed the spot right behind her ear, sending a shiver through her. “We need to make this a regular thing,” he said.

  She smiled. “Absolutely.”

  He slipped from her body, and the hot spill of semen wetted her inner thighs. There was no point in cleaning up or even getting to her feet. They’d told Anna they’d only be a couple of hours, and Piper didn’t want to be late on her first time away from Theo. She shifted to wolf, and beside her Carter did the same. They nuzzled each other, whining their affection, and then started to run back to where they’d left the bike.

  BACK IN THE SPOT WHERE they’d abandoned their clothes, they both got dressed and climbed on the bike. Piper sat up close to Carter, pressing her face against the spot between his broad shoulder as they rode into town. She had a stupid grin on her face that she knew she wouldn’t be able to wipe, even if she tried. She felt as though her happiness might cause her to explode, leaving only a bubbly little mess on the seat.

  They reached town. On the street, one of the pack members waved down the bike, and Carter pulled over. Piper recognized the older man, but couldn’t remember his name.

  “Hey, Carter,” the man said. “We’ve got a dispute going on about that house swap you signed off a few weeks ago. Seems one party has changed their minds, and the Farmer’s aren’t too happy about it. James is looking for you to try to sort it out. Can you stop by?”