The Alpha's Punishment Read online

  He nodded to him without answering.

  “Hi, Charlie, how are things in R&D?” Ashley asked, playing her part of personal assistant perfectly. She’d been pushing him to foster better relationships with his employees and she somehow seemed to know every one of them.

  Charlie lit up at the recognition. “Great,” he said, looking to Ben. “We’re finished with the prototype Superstation. Would you like to test it out?”

  He didn’t answer. His old leadership habit had been to keep everyone out—to refuse to interact unless absolutely necessary. Now, he knew he had to if he wanted to improve morale, but he didn’t know how far to go. If he wasn’t careful, he’d get pulled in a million directions.

  “Mr. Stone’s schedule is tight this week, but if you email me, I’ll set up thirty minutes next week for you to show him everything.”

  Charlie looked slightly flustered, as if he didn’t know whether he’d been put off or not, but he bobbed his head. “Okay, sounds great.”

  “You have my email, right?”

  “Uh… [email protected]?”

  Ashley gave Charlie one of her megawatt smiles, which caused a growl to rise in Ben’s throat. “That’s right,” she said cheerfully as the elevator stopped again and the doors slid open.

  “Okay, thanks,” Charlie said, backing out, looking from one to the other of them, a bit dazedly.

  The doors closed and he took Ashley’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

  “You growled.”

  “No,” he denied it. He had almost growled.

  “I heard it, wolf. What gives?”

  “Wolves give notice of their property when another male is looking.” He watched the effect of his politically incorrect statement on Ashley’s nipples as she tried to muster indignation. “And I’m mostly wolf right now,” he admitted in a rough voice.

  She smiled at that, pressing against him, the lust shining in her eyes.

  The elevator stopped on their parking garage floor and he scooped her into his arms, carrying her out.

  She shrieked. “Stop, someone will see.”

  “I don’t care,” he said, too far gone into what she called Neanderthal mode. She was his. It was time to drag her back to the cave and have his way with her. He flicked on the pussy vibrator, chuckling as she jerked and crossed her legs, trying to rub them together for more friction.

  He opened the passenger side door to his black Mustang and settled her in, flicking on the anal bullet just before he buckled her seatbelt.

  She arched and her hands shot to her sex, her pelvis undulating to meet her fingers.

  “Ah, ah,” he said, prying them away and placing them on the dash. “I didn’t give you permission to touch yourself. Your pleasure is at my discretion, remember?”

  She moaned, closing her eyes and rolling her head back and forth on the backrest.

  He chuckled, shutting the door. As he got in the driver’s seat, he flipped off the pussy vibrator.

  “Please,” she whimpered. “Ben, I can’t take this.” Tears of sexual frustration edged from the outer corners of her eyes.

  As always, the scent of his mate’s tears subdued him, even though rationally, he knew they were a sign of her imminent pleasure, not harm. Still, his instincts screamed for him to fix it, and he flicked off the anal vibrator as well.

  Her moan was one of disappointment this time.

  “I know, mi amor. I’m going to take care of all of your needs as soon as I get you home.”

  She turned her head and blinked at him as if seeing through a haze. “I love you, Ben Stone,” she murmured.

  Something more powerful even than lust rocked him, puffing up his chest with warmth. “I love you, too, mi reina.”

  When he pulled up in the driveway of the house they’d rented while they had their dream house built, Ashley opened the car door and bolted for the house. He chuckled, throwing open his own door and giving chase. He caught her fumbling with the keys. Yanking them from her hands, he managed to open the door and half-carried, half-dragged her inside, tearing her clothes off as he went.

  He flicked on one vibrator, then the other. He’d stripped Ashley out of her sexy skirt and jacket and had her blouse halfway unbuttoned as he pushed her backward toward the bedroom. Blouse off. Bra unhooked. He picked her up and tossed her onto the bed, pouncing over her.

  Panties down.

  He pulled the pussy vibe out of her dripping cunt without bothering to turn it off.

  She reached for the button on his pants and undid it, freeing his length as he claimed her mouth. He wanted to devour her, eat her alive. His teeth had lengthened, his vision had sharpened, which meant his eyes had changed from green to gold. He licked into her mouth, holding back the growl of domination that rose in his throat.

  Not that Ashley ever protested when he took her roughly.

  * * *

  Ashley thought she would die if she didn’t come. The vibration in her ass had turned her to jelly, her body quivering for Ben. “Please,” she whispered when he broke their kiss. She had his shirt in her fist, and she pulled it toward her, trying to drive despite the fact that she was on the bottom.

  Thankfully, Ben let her. He took her with one penetrating stroke, entering to the hilt and staying there while she squirmed under him. She wrapped her legs around his back to pull him in deeper, lifting her hips to move him inside her.

  Ben palmed the place where her neck met shoulder, holding her in place as he withdrew and entered once more, with force.

  She moaned wantonly. “I need you… I need you, please.”

  Ben’s mouth stretched into a wolfish grin, his teeth gleaming dangerously. He backed out and slammed in again, his eyes glittering gold, his expression hungry. He reached toward his pants still around his legs and she thought he would pull them off, but instead he retrieved a small electronic device.

  Suddenly, the rate of vibration in her ass increased. She screamed, shoving her pelvis against him, trying desperately to get relief. Ben thankfully began to thrust inside her, shoving all the way in with a bone-jolting force.

  “Oh, God, yes. Please…”

  “I love it when you beg,” he murmured, his voice thick. He slammed into her again and again, taking her with the violence she craved, each stroke too much, too hard, each withdrawal too soon.

  It seemed her entire body split open to him, her heart burst wide, her body completely his. She no longer squirmed or writhed or tried to direct the action, because working against him would have painful results. She gave herself over to him completely, his ragdoll, his marked mate, open for his seed.

  “Come for me, Ashley,” he said in a guttural tone and slammed deeply inside at the same moment he tugged the cord for the anal vibrator, pulling it through the tight ring of her sphincter muscles and leaving it halfway out, stretching her wide with its buzzing girth. She shattered, her pussy clenching, her internal muscles contracting in wave after wave of mind-blowing release. It seemed to go on forever—both his orgasm and hers. She swore she felt the searing heat of his cum inside her, sensed the way her body joyfully received it, milking his cock and propelling it deep inside her. When at last, her muscles stopped their fluttering, Ben eased the vibrator the rest of the way out, but left his enormous cock inside her.

  Without a doubt, this was the perfect way to make a baby. It had been a nearly religious experience and the euphoria flowing through her now was only interrupted by one thought: she’d screwed everything up.

  Because of her deceit, there would be no wolf pup conceived that day. The pill would prevent it, and her soon-to-be husband had no idea of her sabotage.

  She turned her head to the side as hot tears leaked from her eyes.

  Ben kissed them away, the tenderness of his response only making her feel worse. He thought they were from the incredible orgasm, not the wracking guilt that darkened her chest. Easing out and settling beside her, he pulled her into his arms, kissing her face and hair, nibbling on her ear. “Te quiero…
te amo.”

  More tears. “I love you, too, Ben.”

  He held her until her body stopped trembling and their temperature returned to normal.

  “I’m going to go to the restroom and then I’ll make us some lunch,” she murmured, slipping out of his embrace. In the bathroom, she unzipped the cosmetic bag where she hid the pills and stared at them with disgust. Her stomach clenched and she wanted to throw up. If only she could throw up the half month’s worth she’d already taken. She wondered what would happen if she stopped taking them today. Was there still a chance for pregnancy? And if so, would the baby be healthy, or would the pills cause some abnormality?

  The sound of the door opening behind her made her jump and gasp, yanking her hand with the pills behind her back as she spun to face Ben.

  He froze.

  It was stupid to try to trick him—he had shifter instincts she couldn’t understand. His hearing and eyesight were ten times better than hers.

  His expression showed nothing, but any doubt she had of whether he saw something faded when he said in a deadly voice, “What’s that, Ash?”

  Tears of shame immediately spilled from her eyes as she reluctantly brought her hand forth to show him. “I’m sorry,” she said, spreading her fingers to show him the pills.

  He stared, a look of disbelief clouding his face. “What is that?” he repeated.

  He was going to make her say it. She couldn’t meet his eyes. Staring at the pills, she repeated, “I’m sorry, Ben.” Her voice cracked on the words. “I’ve been lying to you. I—I just didn’t know if I was ready to have children.”

  Ben hadn’t moved. He stood deathly still. “Why lie?”

  More tears spilled down her cheeks. “I just—” Her shoulders sagged. “The first time you brought it up, I wasn’t really thinking straight and after that… I don’t know. I was a coward, I guess. I was afraid.”

  He took a step—not toward her, but backwards. “You were afraid of me?” His voice was so quiet, so devoid of emotion, like the blankness on his face, that it frightened her.

  “Ben—” She stopped. What else was there to say? She had no excuse, no explanation for a deceit she’d allowed to go on for far too long for him to forgive. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  He turned away, peeling off his shirt as he walked away. Which meant he was going to shift. She stood in the bathroom door, watching as he shed his pants in the hallway and transformed with liquid grace into an enormous black wolf.

  “Ben,” she called out, inanely.

  He didn’t turn to look back before he nosed out the dog door, disappearing.

  The house had never felt so hollow.

  Chapter Two

  Ben couldn’t believe it. He loped off, up into the foothills, his mind and body numb. They had purposely rented a house near the wilderness so he could roam at will in wolf form, and he ran up the steep side of a mountain face now, wanting to run forever.

  Ashley had lied to him. She’d betrayed his trust. But even worse, it had been because she was afraid to tell him the truth. That fact had hit him like a fist in the gut. What kind of mate was he if his female couldn’t even talk to him about the things that were important to her?

  Because he’d never witnessed an ounce of cowardice in Ashley. Even as a human, she had alpha female written all over her—confident, whip-smart, and a social genius. She could wrap anyone around her finger. She’d dared joke with him on her interview, even though she’d been nervous. And she’d kept opening her heart to him, when he’d repeatedly shut her down.

  So to hear she feared him meant she hadn’t forgiven him or forgotten the way he’d marked her. It meant they didn’t have any level of trust between them.

  Images of his mother, cowering from his father’s wrath, flashed before his eyes. He ran faster, over the rocky terrain, the cold February wind blowing through his fur. He’d always feared he’d become his father. It was why he hadn’t wanted to lead his brother’s pack, and hadn’t looked for a mate. But you can’t escape your parentage, it seemed.

  The loving, trusting relationship his brother so easily modeled with his wife and he’d foolishly thought he might find with Ashley was not for wolves like him. The gray day turned colder, the higher he climbed. Time and distance fell away and he reached the tree line, where snow still covered the ground. Fresh snow began to fall.

  He stopped, turning in a circle to scent the air. He smelled elk, but was in no mood to hunt. Sitting, he lifted his nose to the sky and howled, a long, mournful howl.

  * * *

  Only a toothbrush would get out the dirt between the grout lines of the shower. Ashley pushed her sleeves up and returned to her position on her hands and knees in the empty bathtub, scrubbing at the tiles. She’d attacked the house, cleaning it from top to bottom, as if that somehow might make things right with Ben. It was now pushing six o’clock and he hadn’t returned. Her stomach had clenched like a fist.

  When she finished cleaning, she grilled three steaks and made a Greek salad and herbed quinoa.

  Still he didn’t come home. The clock read half past eight. Night had come and snowflakes had begun to fall. Surely the cold didn’t bother him. But even so, was it a sign of how upset he was that he didn’t return, despite the dark and cold?

  Unable to eat, she dished the food onto plates, covered them with plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator. The house didn’t feel like hers anymore. She tiptoed around it, like she didn’t belong, every creak of the wood floors making her jump. Wrapping a blanket around her shoulders, she sat down and turned on the television, flipping through the channels. She found an old Clint Eastwood movie and watched it until her eyelids began to droop.

  Maybe she should just go to bed. But would he return soon? Or had he gone elsewhere for the night? Was this the end for them? Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them back, heading to their bedroom to try to sleep.

  She woke at two a.m. to find the space beside her in the bed still empty. A sense of dread filled her chest as she climbed out of bed to check the house. She stopped in the living room, finding Ben’s sleeping form sprawled on the couch. He was naked, as if he’d just shifted back. The chiseled muscles of his powerful chest and arms were exposed, with a light blanket tossed over his waist.

  They weren’t sleeping together?

  She willed herself to exhale, but couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Did this mean things were over between them? Her nose burned as tears crowded up into her throat. She crept to the side of the couch and knelt down beside Ben’s face, tears spilling down her cheeks.

  His eyes blinked open and he sat up. “Ashley,” he said in a hoarse voice. “Go to sleep.”

  “I can’t,” she said. She remembered he’d told her once that the smell of her tears would bring him to his knees. She thought she saw pain in his eyes, but in the darkness, it was hard to tell. “Can we talk?” she croaked.

  He sighed. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  “Will you come to bed?”

  “No,” he said heavily. “I don’t think so.”

  “Then I’m staying here,” she said, brushing the tears with the back of her hand.

  “No,” he said, his voice hardening. “Go back to bed. Now.”

  She shook her head.

  He made a sound of irritation and reached for her, freezing when she flinched. “You’re afraid of me,” he said hollowly.

  She opened her mouth, then closed it, unsure how to answer. Had she flinched because she was scared? No, not really. Rationally, she wasn’t afraid of Ben, but his dominance did have an effect on her, making her instincts for self-preservation kick in, just as seeing him in wolf form always made her gulp.

  “That’s why you felt you had to lie to me.”

  She shook her head. “I just… I didn’t want to disappoint you at first. And then, once the lie was out, I was afraid to confess the truth because I knew you’d be mad—rightfully so.”

  “Did you think I’d force you into parentin
g? That you don’t have a say in the matter?”

  “No… no. But you seemed so excited. And I—”

  He waited when she trailed off.

  “My career is just getting started. I love working for you and I’m just not willing to give that up yet.”

  “This is the discussion we should have had five months ago.”

  She dropped her head and stared at the outline of her hands in the dark. “I know.”

  “I wouldn’t have pushed you,” he said, a bitter edge to his voice. “I thought you wanted this.”

  “I do,” she protested. “Just maybe not right this second. We’re not even married yet.” She knew the institution of marriage didn’t matter to shifters the way it did to humans, but they had agreed to have a long engagement to give her and her family time to adjust to the suddenness of their relationship. In Ben’s world, he’d marked her and she belonged to him, period. She had accepted that, but still wanted time to get used to the idea.

  “I’ll stop taking the pill. I was going to throw them out today, when you caught me.”

  He made an impatient gesture. “You don’t have to. I don’t care about that. You think pups are more important to me than your happiness?”

  Shame made her face grow hot and her eyes wet again. “I’m sorry.”

  He said nothing.

  “Are you going to punish me?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Go to bed, Ashley,” he said, sounding tired.

  “Not without you.”

  He reached for her again and this time she held still, not surprised to find his touch gentle, despite the stony lines of his face. He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom, where he tried to deposit her on the bed. She clung to his neck, though, refusing to let go.

  He growled and she nearly let go, but rallied her courage to prove she wasn’t afraid of him. He dropped to the bed with her and held her down, delivering several sharp smacks to her pajama-clad backside.

  She lay perfectly still for them, holding her breath. A spanking really would clear the air between them. He’d given her a serious spanking once before, and while it had hurt and she hadn’t enjoyed it, it had brought them closer.