This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons--living or dead--is entirely coincidental.
To Tame an Alpha copyright @ 2013 by Joanna Wilson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
To Tame an Alpha
Chapter 1
“Oh, beautiful Spain!” Maxine announced to no one in particular as she walked through the airport, her newly dyed platinum blonde hair bobbing around her ears.
A vacation was just what she needed after the crazy few weeks she’d had. Maxine had been stalked by Jeremy--one of her regulars at the strip club. One lap dance and a flirty smile, and the guy thought she had ‘fuck me’ written all over her face. She didn’t.
“Vincent, where are you?” Maxine wondered out loud as she dragged her luggage along and scoured the airport for the man who was supposed to be meeting her there.
Spain was a spur of the moment decision. The truth was, Maxine had no idea where she wanted to run to, only somewhere that put as much distance between her and Jeremy as possible. The only person she told about her traveling plans was her friend Sapphire, who had always been Fire to Maxine for her fiery nature and her knack for attracting danger like a magnet.
Like a good friend, Sapphire asked her husband Sin to find someone to accommodate Maxine. It was either that or stumble around with all six hours of Spanish she tried to learn on the flight.
Unfortunately, the only Maxine heard about this person was his name: Vincent Gutierrez.
Scanning the crowd again, Maxine saw several men standing by themselves. Any one of them could be Vincent. She was so busy looking around her that she forgot to look forward. Suddenly, a body was in her way and she collided into it.
“Discúlpeme!” Maxine said in her heavily accented Spanish.
“No hay problema.” The man’s deep baritone washed over her and forced Maxine to look up. Striking silver eyes stared at her under a crop of black wavy hair. Recognition flared.
"Maxine?" He asked.
“Vincent?” Suddenly Maxine regretted forgoing her makeup. Should’ve fixed myself up in the bathroom. Maxine thought. This is who you've sent to pick me up, Fire?
The man was gorgeous and exuded a natural coolness in spite of the simmering heat. His toffee color skin contrasted with his white smile. His silk shirt billowed slightly in the breeze, its top button undone to reveal a tiny tuft of hair on his broad chest.
“Florecita.” The man breathed life into the foreign word. Maxine had no clue what he said but it sounded sexy. “It's a pleasure to meet you.”
Maxine extended her hand to Vincent as a coy smile played across her lips. “The pleasure’s all mine.”
The man's eyes lingered for a moment on Maxine's lips and then it darted away. He took her hand in his but instead of shaking it, he planted a heated kiss there.
An unexpected jolt shot through Maxine and she gripped the handle of her bag to keep herself steady. When Vincent pulled away, the print of his lips smoldered and Maxine found herself flushing.
"Shall we?" He gestured.
Maxine nodded. “After you.”
Vincent gave her a devastating smile. “Ladies first.” His tone said he didn't take no for an answer.
Good looking and courteous? “How about I walk beside you?” Maxine compromised and stepped closer.
“Of course.” He grinned and slid his hand around Maxine's waist.
Her heart quickened as the heat from Vincezo's body washed over her. She felt his pulse thump, thump, thumping against her as he steered her towards the doors.
Chapter 2
Maxine looked out at the rolling hills and roaming animals as the car weaved through the countryside. At first Maxine had thought they’d stay in the city but Vincent had told her they’d be staying in the small town of Huerto del Lobo, which meant absolutely nothing to Maxine.
In any case, the drive was nice and it gave her a chance to talk with Vincent and take her mind off of Jeremy. “Do you prefer Vincent or something shorter?” She asked.
He shrugged. “You can call me Vince.”
She caught him sneaking a furtive look from the corner of her eyes as she crossed and uncrossed her legs. The thrill of being ogled crept through her spine.
“Eyes on the road, Vince.” She hid her laughter as best as she could. “You can call me Max.”
“I prefer Maxine. It's more...” Vince turned and flashed a quick smile, his eyes shimmering as he enunciated the final word, slowly and deliberately running his tongue over every syllable. "Feminine."
She turned aside as her face flushed. Somehow he had taken such a harmless word and made it something dirty, sensual, and exotic. She made a mental note to learn that trick for future clients. An image of Jeremy suddenly floated into her mind and she felt like she'd just been dunked in a tub of ice water.
“Um..” She struggled to find the words to change the topic. Different questions flew through her mind and every one of them was inappropriate. Finally, she settled on the safest one. “How do you know Sapphire and Sin?”
“We… run in the same circles.” Vince replied like it was some inside joke. “I’ve known him for a good number of years.”
Maxine ignored the vagueness and wracked her brain for another question. Safe topics. She reminded herself, as she tried not to gawk at him like she’d never seen a man before. Well, none like him at least. Rationally, Maxine knew she ought to stay away from men. They only seemed to bring trouble.
Yet... Vince felt different. There was none of the overbearing desire to be accepted that many of her clients showed. He seemed completely at ease with himself and that alone made Maxine curious. It's been so long since she's talked to a man like that. Maxine wanted to know him, wanted to know what made him tick, and what drove him wild. But every time her thought wandered to that forbidden territory, Jeremy surfaced again and she drew back.
Finally, she settled on the safest question of all. “Your English is really good, where’d you learn?”
“We're all required to learn English, even in Spain. Otherwise, it's very difficult to find jobs. I attended a British boarding school in Barcelona before the change--” He stopped, his expression darkened slightly and he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
The change? Maxine decided to let it go. She had gotten her answer.
Right at that moment her phone rang and she answered it without checking the caller I.D.
“I miss you, Maxine." Jeremy’s nasally voice whined through the phone. “You didn't run away did you, babe? When you gonna come over my house and--"
The word came out before she could stop herself. "Leave me alone!"
That was foolish of her. Jeremy lived for those moments of anger he elicited from her. It was always best to just ignore him and hang up. She tried to pry the battery out of her phone but her hands were shaking too much. Finally, she gave up, turned the phone off, and stuffed it deep in her purse.
She changed her number more times in the past few weeks than she has in her whole life. Yet Jeremy found them every time. With a single call, Jeremy brought her back to unpleasant reality and suddenly even the Atlantic ocean seemed too narrow to keep him away from her.
“Who was that?” Vince asked curiously.
“No one important.” Maxine turned in her seat and mustered the best smile she could,
given the circumstances.
“If you are having problems, I’d be happy to help.”
She looked at him warily. Help wasn't something Maxine accepted from men easily. They always wanted something in return. None of them seemed to realize that just because they helped her, they weren't entitled to sleep with her.
She wanted to believe that Vince would be different, but her brain's natural reaction made her say. "I don't think you can help."
"Try me."
Could she? The countryside continued to roll by and Maxine felt like a trapped animal. Her legs crossed and uncrossed again as she stole a glance at Vince. Oh God, just this once. Please. There were other reasons why she didn't want to say it. How could she? I'm a stripper and one of my clients got the wrong idea after a lap dance. What would Vince say about that? Did they even have strip clubs in Spain?
Plus, she's yet to tell anyone that Jeremy was stalking her. The fact that it was unsaid made her think that it was all just a bad dream, something that wasn't real and only happened to other people. If she said it...
"I don't know... It's complicated."
Vince nodded and said nothing where other men would've pried for more. Maxine glanced at him again. Sapphire had Sin find this guy to take care of me, she reasoned. If they could trust him...
She was taking a chance, a big chance. She closed her eyes and the words tumbled out. "He’s just this guy who’s been stalking me." There, I've said it. I've said it and now it's real, now it's true. Jeremy is stalking me. Her body tensed as harsh reality seeped through her.
“Stalking you?” Vince took his eyes off the road and stared at her.
“Watch the road.” Maxine said.
Vince’s lips curled as he looked forward again. “Stalking is for animals.” He spat.
Maxine couldn't agree more.
He reached over to place his hand lightly on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “If you ever need help with your problem, you have only to ask, Florecita. I could deal with it for you.”
And then his hand was gone, back on the wheel as if nothing happened even as Maxine struggled to rein in her heartbeat.
She looked at him again. Vince radiated a certain intensity that was similar yet different from Jeremy’s. Maxine didn’t feel any threat from him and that was a welcoming change.
I could deal with it for you; she repeated it in her head. And what did that mean? Was Vince going to tell Jeremy to leave her alone? Somehow, Maxine didn’t think that would work.
Maxine sighed and wondered why there couldn’t be more men like Vince in the world. Men should want to protect women, not dominate them. Vince had that old world charm and unending chivalry that made a girl long for candle light and satin sheets.
“How much longer to Huerto del Lobo?” She asked.
“We’re here.” Vince said.
A quaint town came into view, emerging from between the valleys as the car turned the corner. Squat two story buildings lined the streets stretching up into the hills. In some places, the hills were carved away, leaving straight cliffs that shot up towards heaven. People of all thronged the narrow streets. Women walked hand in hand with children. A couple laughed at a whispered joke. Kids chased each other, shouting and laughing in a panoply of colors.
The car slowed to a leisurely purr and Vince rolled down the windows to greet some of the pedestrians. They exchanged a few words, a few laughs, and Vince would see them on the way with a wave. Maxine tried to pick out as many words as she could but the only one she could really make out was "Alfa".
At a fork up the hill, Vince slowed down beside a woman and her daughter. “This is Maxine." He introduced. "She'll be staying with us for a bit.".
Maxine practically crawled over Vince to extend her hand to greet the mother. "Nice to meet you." She extended her arm past the rolled down window, dimly aware how close Vince was.
The woman responded with a warm smile and reached to shake Maxine’s hand. “ I am the caretaker of Señor Gutierrez’s residence. I will join you in a moment when I am finished shopping with my daughter. Please let me know if you need anything.” The woman offered in thickly accented English.
Maxine nodded and thanked Maria before she moved back into her own seat, her hand passing over the thick muscles of Vince’s chest. A sudden urge to press her hand against the rock-hard bands across his chest and push lower, lower, lower still until her fingers snaked beneath his dark brown belt where a delicious heat throbbed. All she needed to do was... No! She drew back, suddenly embarrassed.
Shaking her head, Maxine sat back as the car rode the winding cobblestone road up into the hills. Soon, the village was behind them and the road grew narrower. She squinted forward and saw a stone mansion at the top of the hill. Wrought iron fence and cobblestone driveway lead to a plaza in front. The clear blue sky surrounded the dizzying view. Below, the red roofs of the village drank in the sun. Cicadas buzzed in the warm air and Maxine couldn't help herself from gasping "Wow!" This place was beautiful.
Vince parked the car and got out while Maxine continued gawking from her window. He came around to help her out of the car. “It has been in my family for many generations.” Vince said.
Maxine felt the strength in his grip and turned her eyes to face his. Steely silver greeted her. There was something in them that Maxine wanted to know, a secret that threatened to spill out of the silver depths. But for now, a single question--the last innocent question--nagged at her.
"Vince." She started. "What does Huerto del Lobo mean?"
"Huerto del Lobo?" His voice rolled over the words, so effortlessly rich and husky. "Why, it means Garden of Wolves, Florecita." His other arm pulled her close, bending her back so that he was the only thing she saw.
She knew what was coming next, knew the moment she greeted him at the airport, knew the moment he planted that first smoldering kiss and nearly made her forget why she was here. Though she didn’t understand the why of it, she certainly understood the how of it. The action and the consequences.
Pressing closer as she reached up her hand to twine in his hair and dragged his lips down to hers. It didn’t split her world in half or make the planets realign yet it made her heart flutter all the same. The warmth flowed and filled her like a cup of warm coffee. Bitter. Hot. Addictive.
Maxine deepened the kiss and ran her tongue along Vince’s lower lip until his mouth opened. She dove in, trying to find where he was hiding his addictive taste. The warm metal of the car pressed against her back as Vince slid his rough palms along her thigh.
Maxine groaned as the hard heat of his erection seared through his pants against her core. She felt his pulse through his tongue, through his touch, and through the delicious throb rubbing in little circles as Vince pushed into her, opening her up.
“Florecita!” Vince whispered. His hand wrapped in the silk of her hair and tilted her head back.
Maxine panted as her legs wrapped around the man she'd known for less than a few hours. The thought of Vince burying himself inside of her right here in this courtyard on the hood of his car should have mortified her. But if anything it made the act all that more intense, that carnal.
What is wrong with me? Sanity came back to Maxine as Vince pulled up her T-shirt, his mouth finding her pebbled nipple through the cotton of her bra.
Maxine threw her head back, her hands gripping onto his hair. The hell with it all. It was so long since she last felt the touch of a man—a real man. She’d been celibate for the last year and not by choice. Sex was too dangerous for a girl in her position. Too much risk. Often times guys wanted to have sex with her because they thought she was an easy lay.
A sharp tug on her erect nipple and liquid heat flooded her brain and the space between her thighs. Once upon a time, if a guy was good at foreplay, he could make Maxine come from just toying with her nipples. As a shiver of heat sent goosebumps running up her arms, it appeared that Vince was very, very good at foreplay. Just a few more licks and tugs. Maxine begged
silently.
“Maxine…” He said her name like he wanted to say something else.
Maxine swallowed the lump in her throat. The gravity behind Vince’s words made her wonder about the man. She didn’t know how or when it happened, but Vince has enchanted her, weaved a spell that was slowly taking all her good reasons to not fall in bed with him.
Chapter 3
A voice shrieked from somewhere in the vicinity. “Vincent!”
“No.” Maxine muttered as Vince pulled away and a slight breeze cooled her nipple. She tried to hold onto Vince’s head to keep him right where he was. She was so close, so close.
Vince looked at Maxine from between the valley of her breasts, his breath ragged and his lids lowered. “My mother.”
To Tame an Alpha (Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance) Page 1
