“Yes, but there’s so much about me you don’t know. Like, about my past.”
“That doesn’t matter to me, none of that does.”
Oh Lord, why was he making this harder by being so nice about it? “But you should probably know more about me. Like, about how I got here and my … my fiancé.”
“Ex-fiancé,” he reminded her not-so-gently.
There was a fierceness in his eyes that made her pull back from him.
He must have realized she was frightened, as his voice turned soft. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry …” He brushed her cheek. “It’s just that … us shifters, males especially, we get very possessive about our mates. Even thinking of another man with you is driving my bear crazy.”
“It does?”
“Yeah. Remember all those times at HQ? When Gabriel or any other man was around you? I was so jealous I couldn’t think straight.”
“But Gabriel is your friend,” she said. “And those other men are your rangers.”
“It doesn’t matter. To my animal, they’re all rivals.” His jaw hardened. “That’s why I acted like an ass to you since you came to work for me. And if I haven’t yet, I need to apologize for my actions. For chewing you out for no goddamned reason and saying all those mean things to you, all because I was jealous. I didn’t mean any of them.”
She tried to put herself in his situation, and the truth was, when she thought of him with any other woman, she too felt that hot stab of jealousy. “I think I understand.”
“Then you know why I don’t wanna hear about this other asshole who loved you enough to ask you to marry him.”
Her chest ached at the truth she was hiding from him. “Damon, it’s not what you—”
“Don’t,” his voice was raspy and low. “It doesn’t matter. None of it does. Stay here in Blackstone with me. Live your life here, not in the past.”
Could she really do that? Leave everything behind her, forget it all, and just start a new life? People do it every day, she told herself. She hated that there was this thing between them, not quite a lie, but not quite the truth either. But if he seemed happy not to know … “All right.”
His shoulders relaxed, and he pulled her close, pressing his forehead to hers. “I don’t deserve you, but the truth is, I can’t let anyone else have you.”
A shiver went through her at the possessive, primal words. And darn if it didn’t make her hot.
“You getting wet, sweetheart?”
She gasped. “How did you—”
“I can smell you,” he growled. “And you smell incredible.”
“No way—oh!” He scooped her up and planted her on his lap. “Damon …”
Shoving a hand into her hair, he pulled her face down to his so it was centimeters away. “Do you like that? Like it when I get all possessive?”
“N-no,” she denied, but the tremble in her voice gave her away. Truth was, his possessiveness was intoxicating and hot.
He chuckled low. “No need to pretend.” His teeth nipped at her lips, making her whimper. “You’re mine, Anna Victoria. Body and soul.” Fingers dug into her scalp, making her body tremble with need.
“Damon, let’s go back inside.”
His head bent down to her neck, pressing a kiss there before grazing his teeth against her skin. “How about we stay out here instead?”
“Here?”
“Yes. There’s no one else around.”
A thrill of excitement ran down her spine as he pushed his hips up at her. He was already hard, the head of his cock brushing against her hip. Maneuvering herself so her knees were on either side of him, she reached down to ease his pajamas bottoms off and grasped his length so she could point the tip at her entrance.
“Christ … sweetheart you’re so tight.” He let out a strangled sound as she sank down on him.
Lord, she had never felt so full in her life. Take it slow, she said to herself, exhaling as she continued to take him in. When she was fully around him, she sighed with relief.
“So good … mine. My mate.”
The blanket fell down to the floor, and though the initial blast of chill made her yelp, his arms winding around her made up for it. Slowly, she began to move, sliding up his length and then sinking back down.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” he encouraged. “Take it all in. You know you want it.”
Her hands braced on his shoulders as she moved her hips, grinding them forward and backward. His breath came in short pants, and the hand in her hair pulled her back to expose her neck. His mouth immediately went to her pulse, his teeth sinking into the skin of her neck. It wasn’t enough to break the skin, but it set off something in her she couldn’t name.
With a sharp cry, she hauled herself onto her knees and began to bounce on top of him, taking him in long, fast strokes, gripping him as tight as she could. That only seemed to urge him on, and he ripped the front of the shirt she was wearing so he could take a nipple into his mouth.
All the sensations were too much, and her brain was surely going to short circuit. She continued her pace, riding him as hard as she could.
“That’s it. Come,” he growled against her breast. “You’re mine. Say my name when you come.”
“I’m … yours.” Closing her eyes, she dug her fingers into his shoulders, but he seemed to enjoy the pain of her nails biting into him as he bit at her nipple and met her hips with upward thrusts. Finally, she felt near the edge as fireworks danced in front of her eyelids. Her body convulsed with her orgasm, clamping tight around him. “Damon!”
He let out a low, primal grunt as his arms hooked under her arms and grasped her shoulders to bring her down hard as he thrust upwards, filling her deep. She felt his cock pulse and flood her inside with his warmth. Another guttural sound escaped his mouth as he nipped her playfully on the ear before settling her again on his lap.
“Ohhh.” She couldn’t help the long, satisfied sigh that left her lips. The pleased rumble from his chest vibrated against hers deliciously. “Hmmm … sorry, that was too good.”
“Don’t be sorry for that.” He kissed her hair. “I don’t think I can get enough of you.”
After last night, she wouldn’t have believed him except he was still hard inside her right now, like he was still ready for another round. Not that it would be a bad thing.
“Can’t get enough of me too, huh?” He teased as a hand moved lower to cup her bottom. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re satisfied. Everywhere.”
His fingers moved close to her center and …
Her eyes rolled back so far into her head, she was practically blind. “Oh, Damon!”
After spending Saturday night at Damon’s, she had him drive her back to J.D.’s because she didn’t have any more clothes. It simply wouldn’t do to show up at the station together, and her wearing wrinkled clothes from Saturday; after all, things had to look professional at work. However, Damon had told her that everybody probably knew that they were mates by now and that it would be no problem, but she insisted, and he didn’t argue.
Frankly, she wanted to see if this would last—that feeling that everything was right. Though she was afraid she would only feel it when he was around, she wanted to know now, before things got too serious. However, the moment he pulled out of the driveway, she was already missing him and couldn’t wait to see him again the next day. Was this what it was like with one’s mate? This feeling like she was missing a limb when he wasn’t around?
Monday morning came, and excitement thrummed in her veins as she entered the Blackstone Rangers headquarters. She’d already spied his truck in his parking space, so she knew he was in. After planting her things on top of her desk, she grabbed a file folder and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” came the curt reply.
Pushing the door open, she padded in quietly.
Damon’s head whipped up, and the scowl that usually marred his face dissolved. “You’re early,” he said, amused. Though his jaw was cleanly shaved this
morning, she couldn’t forget how his scruff tickled her skin, well, everywhere.
“Am I?” His gaze full-on blazed with desire, and heat pulsed in her. “Damon … not here,” she warned.
A dark brow lifted up. “What did I do?”
“You know.” She smirked at him and planted a hand on her hip.
Slowly, calmly, he put the pen in his hand on the desk and then stood up, circling the desk to stalk toward her. With those green eyes, which reminded her of jades, piercing into her, she did, indeed, feel like prey. “I would say you started it.”
“How?”
“By being so sexy this morning.”
She put her hand on her chest in mock astonishment. “Chief, is that any way to talk to your employees? I should call HR—oh!”
Strong arms encircled her and pulled her to his chest. “I like it when you call me chief.”
“You do?”
“Mm-hmm.” He flipped her around, pressing her bottom to his groin, where she could feel his semi-hardness against her. “Makes me want to bend you over that table and—”
“Damon!” she admonished, pulling away from him. Still, she couldn’t stop the smile turning up the corner of her lips. She liked this playful side of him. “I told you, we need to be professional here. What if someone walked in?”
“I suppose you’re right.” The heat in his gaze could have scorched her panties right off. “Being my assistant, I think we should work late tonight. I’ll need your … assistance on a few things.”
“Ha.” She pushed the folder in her hand at him. “Sign these please, so I can send them over to requisitions.”
“Yes, ma’am. But first,” he snaked a hand around her waist. “One kiss.”
“Oh, all right.” The folder dropped to the floor as soon as his mouth descended on hers. Her body sang as their lips touched, as it had been years—and not hours—since they last kissed. He ravished her mouth thoroughly, and when he was done, she had to brace herself against his chest to keep her balance. “Oh my.”
He grinned at her boyishly, then picked up the folder. “See you at lunch?”
Straightening her blouse and her hair, she gave him a nod. “See you then.” She turned on her heel and walked out of the office.
As she sat back at her desk, she couldn’t help but glance at the clock. Though she managed to do most of her work, it felt like the time crawled by. Finally, five minutes before twelve, the door to Damon’s office flew open.
“Ready?” he asked.
Her hands gripped the side of her desk to keep her from flying out of her seat. “I am,” she said, grabbing her brown paper bag. As she walked around her desk, to her surprise, he took her hand in his.
“Let’s go to the cafeteria.”
Despite knowing she should take her hand from his, she couldn’t do it. So, instead, she braced herself as they walked through the building on their way to the cafeteria. However, she should have trusted Damon more. No one seemed to bat an eye that the chief and his assistant were walking together hand in hand. Maybe there were one or two double takes, as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing, but no one sent them nasty looks or made any mean comments.
When they reached the cafeteria, they sat down at an empty table, and moments later, Gabriel, Daniel, and even Anders joined them. None of the guys said anything, though Gabriel did wink at her, and Anders didn’t say anything flirtatious or inappropriate throughout the whole hour.
The week went by much quicker than she anticipated. She slept over at his cabin almost every night, except for one disastrous time when they tried to stay over in her room at J.D.’s place. After they had dinner at an Italian place he suggested, she insisted on going back to her room. Unfortunately, the tiny single bed barely fit them both, plus J.D. had rapped on the wall in the middle of the night, yelling, “I’m trying to sleep here, you horny ef-fers!” They’d stayed at his place since then.
It would have been nice to sleep in on Saturday morning, especially after Friday night, when Damon cooked dinner for her and they made love for hours after. However, she’d already promised the girls she would do her first yoga class that weekend, and aside from the initial six women, another three planned to join them.
The prospect that she might actually be able to turn this into a business made her giddy with excitement. So, though she was loath to leave Damon’s warm bed—not to mention the man himself—she drove to Blackstone Castle early that morning. They made plans to meet up later that day, as she wanted to do some shopping on Main Street without having to worry about his anxiety over crowds. They settled on an early dinner at Rosie’s as the weather predicted heavy snowfall later that night, and she didn’t want to be out driving when that happened.
“Wow.” It was difficult not to gasp as she pulled up the driveway toward Blackstone Castle. Catherine hadn’t been kidding. It really was a real-life fairy-tale castle in the mountains, complete with turrets. Turning her engine off, she got out of the car and headed to the front entrance. Before she could even knock, the door opened.
“Hello, you made it,” Catherine greeted. “Thanks for coming early. Only Amelia and Georgina are here, so we can help if you need to make any changes to the layout I did.”
“Hey, Catherine. Yeah, the directions were easy and you’re actually closer to Damon’s than J.D’s place.” A blush crept into her cheeks when the other woman gave her a knowing look. “So … nice castle.”
Catherine stepped aside to let her in. “Yeah, we do what we can. Come on,” she cocked her head. “I’ll tell you what I know about the history.”
They chatted as they made their way through the elegantly-designed halls of Blackstone Castle. Everything about it screamed old money, from the plush Persian carpets to the art hanging on the wall. It was like stepping back in time and visiting with the Rockefellers or Vanderbilts.
“… so, Lucas Lennox promised the countess he’d build her a castle if she would marry him,” Catherine finished and then gestured for her to go through to the next room first.
“And so he did.” This place was mind-boggling, and she had grown up in a six-bedroom mansion in Albuquerque’s most exclusive neighborhood. “This is perfect,” she said when they entered the large, well-lit room and walked toward where a small table was set up and Georgina and Amelia were chatting. Like the rest of the castle, the ballroom was richly-decorated with hardwood floors, large windows, intricate woodwork molding, and several crystal chandeliers. She could imagine it filled with people in tuxedos and ballgowns, maybe an orchestra on the side. Today, however, it was completely empty save for the yoga mats arranged on the floor, and two rambunctious children—a boy and a girl—running around the expansive space.
“… can’t catch me!” The boy shouted at the girl. He looked to be about six or seven while the girl was probably younger.
“Yes, I can!” she shouted back as she chased after him.
“Grayson! Cassie!” Georgina Lennox called. “Stop running around please!”
The two children stopped in their tracks. “Aww, Mom!” the boy—Grayson—complained. “We were having fun.”
“No fair!” Cassie added, crossing her arms over her chest. “I was about to catch him.”
“Our yoga class is about to start, Grayson,” Georgina warned. “I told you, you could come and play with Cassie, but you have to stay out of the way when we begin, okay? Now come here.” The two kids trudged over to them. “Anna Victoria,” she began. “This is my son, Grayson.”
“And this,” Amelia ruffled the little girl’s head, “is my daughter, Cassie. Say hello, kids.”
“Hello, Miss Anna Victoria,” they said in unison.
Anna Victoria bent down to their eye level. “Nice to meet you.”
“Grayson,” Georgina began. “Why don’t you and Cassie go up to the nursery? Uncle Matthew and Devon should be there. He said he’d look after you guys while we’re at class.”
“Okay!” Grayson said with a nod, then took Cass
ie’s hand. “C’mon, Cass, maybe Uncle Matthew’ll fly us today.” With that the two children dashed out of the ballroom.
“They’re adorable,” she said to the two women.
“But they sure are a handful,” Georgina said.
“Do you like children?” Amelia asked Anna Victoria.
“I guess?” She hadn’t been around many kids, having been an only child. But she supposed they were asking about her and Damon, and that made her stomach flutter. Was it too early to think about that?
“Ahem.” Georgina cleared her throat as she and Amelia smiled at each other knowingly. “Looks like we should get started,” she nodded behind them, where J.D., Kate, and a couple of other women were filing in.
“Ah, right.” With a deep breath, she turned around. “Hello, ladies! Good morning.” I can do this, she told herself. This was something she wanted to go right. “My name is Anna Victoria, thanks for coming.”
Kate began to introduce the other three women. “This is Nepheli,” she nodded at the tall brunette. “She works with my husband and Christina at the Marketing Department at Lennox.”
“How do you do?” she asked, her voice heavily accented.
“And this,” she gestured to the petite redhead, “is Penny Walker, Amelia’s sister-in-law.”
“Hi.” Penny waved at her shyly. “I’ve never done yoga, but I’m excited to try it.”
“Finally,” she gestured to the other redhead in the trio, “this is Dutchy Forrester, Blackstone’s premiere fashion designer.”
Dutchy smiled and rolled her eyes. “Kate tends to exaggerate things, but you probably already know that.”
“I’m glad I finally got you out of the house, Dutch,” Kate said. “Even if I did have to drag you out.”
“It’s lovely to meet you ladies,” Anna Victoria said. “Why don’t we begin?”
They all headed toward the mats in the middle of the ballroom, with Anna Victoria taking the one at the front, and the others assembled behind her.
She led them through an easy flow, not really knowing what everyone’s levels were, but made sure to give tips and modifications for both beginners and advanced students.
Blackstone Ranger Chief Page 12
