Martine, Missy - Changing Their Wolfen Heritage [A Wolfen Heritage 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Missy Martine

  He glanced down the street toward the building he’d agreed to remodel for Michael. How the hell am I gonna be around her for two whole weeks and not mate her? His Alpha had ordered him to romance her for the next couple of weeks and give her a chance to get to know him. He even went so far as to say it would make their mating stronger, based more on love than biology. Mali laughed as he got out of his truck. Tell that to the wolf that has scented its mate. It was going to be a long two weeks.

  He walked quickly down the sidewalk and stopped, took a deep breath to gain control, and then opened the door to Michael’s new office. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of his beautiful mate. She was more than a foot shorter than his own frame, making him feel very masculine and protective. Her short, brown hair framed her face in soft curls, giving her an angelic look, while the sparkles in her dark, brown eyes told of her hidden fire. He let his eyes rake her body from head to toe and had to bite back a groan. She was perfect in every way with her rounded, hourglass figure. A man could bury his face between her large breasts and never want to come up for air. Her hips were wide and full, perfect for gripping tightly when their bodies came together. But it was her ample, rounded ass that had kept him up the past couple of nights. He’d had fantasies of having her on her hands and knees, breasts swinging down freely, while he cradled his hips against those luscious, full cheeks.

  “Mali, it’s good to see you again.” Melissa’s words startled him out of his daydreams. “Were you able to get your other job finished?” she asked.

  He swallowed hard and then remembered that he’d told Latan to give her the message that he would be late. “It’s good to see you, too, Melissa.” God, if you only knew how good it is to be here with you. He laughed. “Well, I guess that means Latan remembered to give you my message.” He took a deep breath and nearly dropped to his knees. His mate was aroused! As he watched, her nipples pushed against the front of her thin, white blouse. I wonder what color they are.

  “So, did you finish your other job? Will you be able to start on the office soon?”

  * * * *

  Melissa was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. Okay, she felt a lot uncomfortable. This was, without a doubt, the most handsome man she’d ever met. He only had to walk through the door and she was flooded with desire. Already, her breasts were throbbing, aching to feel the touch of his mouth, while dampness was gathering between her legs. It would probably have been easier to handle all those feelings if the man in question didn’t look at her as if he wanted to eat her alive.

  “Yeah, the other job is wrapped up. If you can show me everything you want done today, I can be back early tomorrow to get started.” Mali flashed her a big smile, and then his eyes seemed to settle on her breasts.

  Feeling a little self-conscious, Melissa crossed her arms across her chest. “Sure, that’s no problem. Down here, it’s pretty straightforward.” She indicated the wall alongside her desk. “Michael wants this turned into built-in shelves. He left me the dimensions he wants you to use.” She walked farther toward the back of the large room, with Mali following close behind. “He’d like you to make this into a little alcove. It’s going to house the copier and some file cabinets.”

  Mali stood so close Melissa could feel the heat of his body across her back and legs. She tensed when she felt him lean toward her. She could swear the man was sniffing her! Oh, my God! What the hell is he doing? She quickly stepped away and walked back toward the front of the office. “Other than that, he wants a partition dividing the room right about here.” She indicated a place that would block off about a third of the floor space. “Michael thought we needed a conference room where we could talk to potential clients in privacy.”

  “You don’t want to divide this out so you both have a private office?” Mali asked.

  Melissa smiled. “Actually, we talked about that. Neither one of us liked the idea of being segregated in some private space. We decided that sharing would give it a more family-like atmosphere. We’ve always been pretty close.” She jumped slightly. She could have sworn she heard a low growl coming from the frowning man. “Uh, we’ve both had bad experiences in the past with closed office doors, and neither of us ever wants to go through that again.”

  Mali looked downright dangerous. His dark eyes flashed with something that Melissa couldn’t define. He looked angry. “Okay, is that it for down here?” he growled out.

  Melissa hesitated, feeling just a little confused. She wasn’t sure what she’d said or done to change his mood, but he was definitely in a snit about something. She decided it would be better to get it out in the open, whatever it was, than to keep worrying, imagining the worst. “Mali, is something wrong? Did I say or do something wrong?”

  The large man looked surprised and then embarrassed. As she watched, a slow flush crept up his neck. His eyes softened, and he took a step closer to her. “No, nothing’s wrong.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Today it was loose instead of in the tight ponytail he’d worn at the wedding reception. Her fingers itched to replace his as they sank into the silky-looking strands. “I’m sorry if I’ve given you a bad impression. I guess I should’ve taken the time to clear my thoughts before coming here today. I think I’m still caught up mentally in the problems from my last job.” He smiled at her, making her breath catch in her throat. “It doesn’t have anything to do with you, sweet lady. I promise, from this moment on, I’m putting all bad thoughts behind me and concentrating on your job and getting to know you better.”

  Melissa was shocked and, as usual, couldn’t control her mouth when something surprised her. “Why would you want to get to know me better?”

  He looked incredulous for just a moment and then grinned wickedly. “Do I need a reason to get to know a beautiful woman better?”

  Melissa snorted, now convinced he was pulling her leg. He must think he’ll lose this job if he angers me in some way. “Okay, big man, try to keep the bull to a minimum if you don’t mind. I promise the job’s yours no matter what.” She smiled, trying to soften her words, but from the look of anger on his face, she didn’t think she’d succeeded.

  Mali clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t say things I don’t mean, Melissa. You need to learn that before we go any further.”

  Melissa felt her anger get the best of her. “Yeah, right. Then why did you call me a beautiful woman? We both know that’s just not true.” The look on his face made her hesitate. “I’m not saying I’m Elephant Man ugly, just that nobody in their right mind would consider me beautiful, and you seem to be a reasonably intelligent man.”

  Mali walked over, grabbed Melissa’s shoulders with his large hands, and then eased her forward until her taut nipples pressed against his abdomen. He kept silent until she trembled and looked up into his anger-filled eyes. He locked his gaze with hers for several silent moments as if he searched for something, and then his eyes softened, and the corners of his mouth turned up into a slight grin. “You don’t even realize it, do you?”

  Melissa swallowed. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from his intense stare. “Realize what?”

  He smiled and cupped her cheek with one of his hands. “How beautiful you are.”

  She gasped and, for once, couldn’t think of anything flip to say. Somehow, she knew in her heart that Mali wasn’t lying to her. “You really think I’m beautiful,” she whispered. It was a statement, not a question, because she could already see the answer in his eyes.

  “I think you’re very beautiful,” he answered. Mali started lowering his head slowly toward hers, his focus on her mouth.

  Melissa panicked, not yet ready for their relationship to go any further. Wow, Ariane, when you said the men here would be interested in me, you weren’t just feeding me a line. Deciding she needed to regain a little control, Melissa pulled back and slid away from the hand on her shoulder. She almost laughed at the disbelieving look that came over his face. “Well, that’s it for down here. Let me show you what
needs to be done upstairs, and then you can get back to whatever else you need to get done today.” Melissa knew she was rambling, but couldn’t seem to stop. She risked a glance up to gauge his reaction to her wily escape and was somewhat annoyed to see the devilish grin on his face.

  Mali chuckled. “All right, sweet lady, we’ll do it your way, for now. Why don’t you show me what you want done on the upper level?”

  Flustered, Melissa quickly headed toward the back of the office and then up the short flight of stairs that led to her future apartment. Mali walked so closely behind her their bodies brushed every couple of steps. If he doesn’t back off, I just might come without his ever laying a hand on me! Reaching the upper level, she quickly stepped away. “I wanna keep this pretty much one big room.” She pointed to various places in the large room. “A little kitchenette should go over there with a sink, a small stove, and a couple of cabinets. I want the bathroom there,” she indicated a different corner, “with a tub and shower together.”

  “You would lose a lot less living space if you had just a shower,” Mali pointed out.

  Melissa grimaced. “No, I’ll give up all the other living space to have a nice tub. There’s nothing like soaking in a tub full of warm, fragrant bubbles after a hard day. You wouldn’t understand unless you give it a try.” She hadn’t realized how that would sound until she heard him groan.

  “Now that’s something I just might take you up on, someday soon,” he said softly.

  She could feel her face heat up and decided it would be better to ignore his statement for now. “I want a closet put in that corner and, if possible, a line of shelves built across one end for shoes and things.” She turned and faced him. “That’s it. How long do you think all this will take?”

  “Are you in a big hurry?” he asked.

  She thought for a moment. “I guess not a real big hurry. I’m living in a little bed-and-breakfast on the outskirts of town. It’s nice, but it doesn’t feel like home, if you know what I mean. I like being around my own things and not having to worry about coming and going on somebody else’s schedule.”

  Mali looked shocked. “They control when you come and go?”

  She laughed, and tried to explain. “No, not exactly. The lady that runs it is elderly. I know she prefers to go to bed early, and she’s an early riser. She’s not a very trusting person, though. She gave me a key to my room, but the outside door to her home stays locked. If you stay out late, she has to get up to let you back in.”

  “You stay out late a lot?”

  Melissa didn’t care for his tone at all. “Of course not. Even if I was a night owl, there’s nothing in this little town to keep me out late. You don’t even have a movie theater.” She cringed when she heard the anger in her own voice and tried to tone it down. “When I first arrived, right before the wedding, I took a drive one evening just to see some of the countryside. I lost track of time and decided to have dinner in Kenyan.” She sighed. “It was about nine o’clock when I got back here, and the sight of that poor little old lady coming to the door in her flannel gown instilled enough guilt in me that I’ve not been out late again.” She smiled at the sound of loud, uninhibited laughter coming from Mali.

  “Okay, I can see your problem. I’ll do my best to hurry things along. The bathroom and kitchen will take the longest because it wasn’t set up to have any plumbing upstairs. Once we get that done, the rest can be finished in a few days.” He gave her a sexy smile and a quick little wink. “It would speed things up if you helped me out.”

  “Help you, how?” she asked warily.

  “Make yourself available to spend some time with me. I’ll need quick decisions if there’s a problem. You’ll need to pick out your colors for painting and any other personal touches you want. It would just make things go faster if you stuck around while I’m doing the job.”

  Melissa chewed on her bottom lip and thought for a moment. What harm can it do? It’s not like he’ll be paying much attention to you. There’s all this work to keep him busy. She almost groaned out loud. Why the hell are you hesitating? You want to be with him, you know you do. “Okay, I’ll make sure to stick around where I’m here every day you work.” She hesitated for a moment. “Do you have any paint chips or samples that I could look through so I can make my decisions, or do I need to find a paint store?”

  “I have everything you need, sweet lady, and I’ll bring it all with me tonight when I take you to dinner.”

  “When you what? Take me where?” Melissa’s voice had raised a couple of decibels.

  “Take you to dinner tonight.” He grinned. “I’ll pick you up around seven.”

  She didn’t think she liked the predatory look on his face. “Why do we need to go to dinner just to look at paint samples?” She wasn’t going to give in too easily. She wanted him to have to work a little before she agreed to go. His interest in her was doing wonders for her ego.

  “Everybody knows you need to keep up your strength when you’re picking out something as important as the color of paint to go on your walls. Hell, that’s something you’ll have to look at day in and day out for years to come. It’s important to be in the right frame of mind when you’re choosing them.” He walked over and took her chin in his hand. With firm pressure, he tilted her head until they were almost nose to nose. He hesitated just a moment, and then pressed his lips lightly to hers. “I’ll pick you up at the bed-and-breakfast at seven.” He looked into her eyes and groaned softly before walking swiftly toward the stairs.

  Melissa stared after him in shock, still feeling the pressure of his lips against hers. She started when she heard him grumbling as he walked down the steps, clearly hearing him say, “I’m gonna make Remus pay for this!”

  * * * *

  Koril paced nervously as he and Brenner waited near the river for Remus to arrive. They’d both received messages from their Alpha ordering them to this meeting, and he was pretty sure he knew what Remus wanted. Unfortunately, his Alpha wasn’t going to be happy with the answers they had for him. He looked over at his friend and the other half of Wind River Pack’s security team. “He’s gonna be pissed.”

  “I know,” Brenner sighed, “but it can’t be helped. He only gave us two days to gather information, and it wasn’t enough time. These people are organized and, apparently, well funded. I keep hitting walls no matter which direction I search in. Remus is just gonna have to understand that we need more time.”

  “Fine,” Koril said dryly. “I’ll just let you tell him.”

  “The hell I will,” he barked. “You’re the leader of this team. You tell him.”

  “Just when did I become leader?” Koril asked.

  Brenner frowned. “What time this morning did you get the message for us to meet here?”

  “Around ten o’clock, why?”

  “Then you became leader of this team around ten o’clock.”

  “You’re such an asshole. If you think—”

  “Here he comes,” Brenner interrupted.

  They watched as Remus came running along the riverbank in his wolf form. When he reached the two men, he shifted, seeming unconcerned with his state of undress. Remus gave them both a hard glare. “Gentlemen, report. What have you learned?”

  “Not much, Remus,” Koril replied. “Kaugh hasn’t left his Main Street office since yesterday. He hasn’t made any phone calls, but did have internet service installed. I’ve got people tracing any online activity, but so far, there hasn’t been anything other than e-mails. Earlier today, Calvin Ames left the office and drove to Kenyan. We found out that Kaugh and all three men with him have hotel rooms there.” Koril ran a hand through his short hair. “While Ames was there, he stopped in to see a realtor.” He consulted his notes. “Her name’s Alice Mitchell. We don’t know what business he had with her, yet. I had their hotel rooms searched but came up empty-handed.”

  “What about the other two men? What have they been up to?” Remus asked.

  “We’re watching the
place day and night, and we’re fully prepared with enough manpower to follow anyone who leaves the premises,” Brenner added. “It’s weird, Remus. One of the men with Kaugh, Sean Cross, has spent most of his time staring out the window toward Michael’s office. My guy said that our new teacher visited Michael’s assistant this morning and Sean was practically drooling on the windowpanes watching her.”

  “Why was Tania visiting Melissa? I didn’t even know they knew each other. Did she make any contact with Kaugh or any of his men?” Remus asked.

  “No, she didn’t have any actual contact,” Brenner said, “but she spent an unusual amount of time standing next to her car staring at Kaugh’s office.”

  Remus growled and paced back and forth in front of the men. “Something’s not right with her. I can feel it, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is that’s off. Keep an eye on her until we learn more.” He looked at Brenner. “Is that it?”

  “We ran checks on Kaugh’s three associates. Dyer and Ames have nothing remarkable in their backgrounds. Neither of them has ever been arrested, and they don’t have any family to speak of. Sean Cross is another matter entirely. He’s bad news, Remus. He has been Kaugh’s muscle for the last five years, and the man enjoys his work. He’s a sadist through and through. The police picked him up numerous times, but no charges were ever filed against him. He bragged to more than one individual that he got the scars on his face from an intimate encounter with one of Kaugh’s test subjects.”

  “Damn, now we have to worry about our females,” Remus bellowed. “You said he was drooling over Tania?”

  “Yeah, that’s what my man said,” Brenner confirmed.

  Remus stopped pacing. “Double the guards on Cross, and put men on every road leading into pack territory. I want to know their movements twenty-four hours a day. Find out who their outside contacts are. If he needed internet access, he’s in contact with someone.” Remus was quiet for a moment. “Do a complete background check on our new teacher. Her name’s Kitania, with no pack affiliation. She grew up in one of the National Council’s homes. I don’t trust her. It seems a little too coincidental that she showed up at the same time as Kaugh and only wanting a temporary position.”