by Mia Carson
“Alec! You open this damn door!” she yelled. “Alec Wolf!”
She kept banging on the door until she heard the lock click and it swung inward. “Yeah, she’s here,” he said, but not to her. His cell was pressed to his ear, and from the pissed off, worried look on his face, Joe had called him. “Right, I’ll let you know if I’m alive or not later.” He hung up and shoved his cell in his pocket as she barged inside.
“What the hell were you thinking?” she snapped once the front door was closed. “Why would you piss him off? Why did you provoke him like that?”
“Can you take a deep breath and calm down?” he said loudly. “And hand over that damn picture. The frame’s digging into your palm.”
She blinked a few times then glanced down as he uncurled her fingers from the sharped edges of the frame. A gasp escaped her, and he frowned.
“Damn it, Iris, you cut your hand. Come here,” he said and dragged her through his house to the kitchen. “Sit down and don’t talk for a minute, alright? You look like your head’s going to explode.”
“Because you went after Jenson!” she yelled as he grabbed a towel off the counter and pressed it against her palm. She winced, and he scowled at her but didn’t let up the pressure on her hand. “You can’t provoke him. You don’t know him.”
“Joe said he came by the shop,” Alec said stiffly, not looking at her. “He said it looked bad.”
She sank lower into the chair, loving the way he held her hand and hating that she liked it so much. “Yeah, it was bad,” she mumbled. “He wanted me to warn you to stay away from him.” Alec’s face broke out in a wolfish grin, and Iris lost it. “You’re an idiot, you know that? You don’t know what he’s capable of. I do! And if he hurts you… If he does anything to you like… like… Just leave him alone. I’m begging you.” The words came out in a ragged, stuttering mess. She bent over, her head hanging with one hand holding it up as she stared at the floor.
She waited for Alec to say something, but the house remained quiet. What she could hear was his heavy breathing, in and out through his nose, while he pressed the towel against her palm.
“That does hurt, you know,” she remarked.
The pressure let up, and Alec pulled the towel away. “The bleeding has stopped. I’m going to get you a bandage and the antibiotic cream. Don’t move.”
She did as he asked, the strength gone from her body as her anger and worry at what Jenson might do to Alec took over every muscle and every nerve. She closed her eyes, and that horrible night replayed repeatedly in her mind until she jerked up from her chair with a yelp and ran right into Alec’s hard body.
“You’re safe,” he told her sternly when she flinched away. His arms came slowly up around her, holding her loosely. “Iris, you’re with me. He’s not here.”
“I know,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest, and she let her body lean against his, her forehead resting against his chest and her arms limp at her sides. “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault you’re involved in this anyway.”
His arms shifted and he held her close, kissing the top of her head. “Jenson’s not that bad. He’s just full of himself.”
She stiffened and shook her head, leaning back so she could stare into his eyes. “No, he’s not. He’s dangerous, and he’s basically got freaking immunity. He’s the son of the mayor, for God’s sake, so you can’t just beat him up.”
“Well, there goes my plan for tarring and feathering him later,” he teased, but she shoved hard at his chest, breaking out of his arms. “I was kidding. What did he do to you?”
The question caught her off-guard, and she laughed nervously, trying to control her erratic emotions. “He was an asshole who ruined my reputation. That’s it.”
“You’re so full of shit,” he said and crossed his arms over his chest. “Just tell me the truth.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” she insisted hotly. “You’re the one who insisted on being part of my life, but that doesn’t mean you get to charge in like a raging bull and demand to know everything about my past!”
“I do when it concerns me.”
She raised her hands and mimicked throttling him, exasperated. “Just let it go. Why can’t you do that? He’s not worth it.”
“If he keeps coming after you I won’t have a choice,” he stated.
Iris turned her back on him and glanced at the door. She should’ve run out of there. That would’ve been the smart thing to do, but she smiled bitterly, prodding the shallow cut on her hand. “You can’t run forever,” she whispered to herself, words her mom used to tell her and Sam.
“Iris?”
Her head fell back, and she chewed her bottom lip, hating the idea of reliving the night, but Alec was right. He should know, especially if him knowing would give him a better idea of Jenson’s instability.
“He always had a short temper when we were together,” she started quietly. “He yelled a lot, but never at me—not in the beginning. When my parents died and I was left to deal with Sam and the house, the bills, Dad’s store… I got depressed, really depressed, and stopped caring about everything except Sam.”
“What did he do?”
She turned around, her arms closing over her chest as if to ward off the bad memories, but there was no getting rid of them. “He yelled at me, told me to stop being pathetic and drunk. Told me to start acting like his girlfriend and suck it up. After he spread the rumors that I was an alcoholic and a cheater, I slapped him at Danny’s bar and broke up with him very publicly.”
Alec’s frown deepened, but she held up a hand to stop him before he lectured her.
“I know, it was stupid, but I didn’t really give a shit at that point. Months passed, and I dealt with everything the best I could. One night, he showed up at the house. He started ranting and raving about how he wanted me back, but I told him to get out and leave me alone.” She paused, and her face screwed up as Jenson’s words hit her as if he’d slapped her again. “He backed me up against the wall, slapped me once, and I decked him right back. His next hit would’ve broken my nose, but I saw it coming. He put two holes in my wall, but I managed to get into the bedroom and lock the door. He left and didn’t talk to me for a while after that.”
She waited for Alec to speak, but he stared at her from across the kitchen, his eye twitching and hands fisted at his sides. Then he snarled and stormed past her. “I’m going to break that son of a bitch’s neck!”
Iris took off after him and slid around him, shoving both her hands at his chest. “You can’t! Don’t you get that? He’ll have you arrested for assaulting a cop!”
“He can’t get away with terrorizing you,” he growled and tried to pick her up and move her, but Iris planted herself as hard as she could and pushed back against him. “You never told anyone what happened? Why?”
“His family owns this damn town,” she muttered. “All the land, everything. If I did anything to ruin him, he’d come at me and take everything I have, and I don’t have much left. So, I kept quiet about it.” She stepped back, happy that someone finally knew the truth but so exhausted from keeping up appearances all these years. She sank to the floor in Alec’s entryway and shook her head. “All I wanted was to get Sam better and get out of town, but we’re trapped here. There’s no way out, and now, I’ve dragged you into this mess.”
Guilt at what she put Alec through consumed her, and she couldn’t even bring herself to lift her gaze to his. He had every right to kick her out, to be furious. Jenson would be watching him and the gun range now. Any slip, and he’d nail Alec with everything he could until he gave in and left town. Alec could run if he wanted, but she was stuck here with no money and no chance at a real future.
“You should just stay away from me,” she mumbled. “It’s better that way.”
Two hands reached down and grabbed hers, pulling her back to her feet. Iris averted his gaze until Alec reached out and turned her face gently back towards his. “Do you see me running scared rig
ht now?” he asked with a glint in his eyes.
“No, but you should be. I’m not good for you, not good for anyone,” she tried again. “I’m not date-able, and I’m certainly not anywhere close to girlfriend material. I have way too many problems to deal with, and I refuse to ruin someone’s life.”
“Iris, look at me,” he said sternly when her eyes looked anywhere but his face. “Please?”
She shifted on her feet. “What?” she mumbled without looking at him. If she did that, she’d lose what little resolve she clung to, telling herself this was for the best. “I can’t… I can’t date you, okay? I just can’t.”
“Because of your ex?” he said and laughed quietly. “We all have pasts, and I’m ready to deal with whatever yours has to throw at me. I can see the fight in your eyes, and the first time I met you, it was dimming. But suddenly, it was like someone lit a fire in you again, and the light that shone through your smile, your laugh… It was breathtaking.”
Slowly, her gaze shifted to land on his. “You did that,” she whispered. “I felt it that first night.”
“And you really think I’m going to run from something like this? Do you have any idea what you do to me every damn second I’m around you?”
“Why the hell do you even like me?” she muttered, unwilling to believe it so easily. “Everyone in this town hates me. Everyone.”
He grinned and leaned in closer, his arms wrapping securely around her body. “Good thing I’m not from this town,” he growled and slanted his lips over hers. His tongue played along her lower lip, and Iris shivered in his arms, her hands gliding up and around his neck to drag him closer. Heat cascaded over her body with every subtle shift of pressure in his hands, with every move of his tongue and his lips, but that nagging voice of doubt rose again and Iris shook her head.
“No, I can’t do this to you. I’m not stable,” she argued and slipped from his arms to pace past him. “You don’t understand how bad things are, and if you did, you would be running. I’ll get my things and go.”
She turned for the kitchen, but Alec’s hand caught hers, stilling her. “You think I’m not going to love you as much because you’re a little unhinged?” he asked quietly.
Iris nodded, but his words echoed through her mind again as her heart pounded wildly behind her ribs. “Did you say… love?”
His jaw tightened, and his eyes glimmered with a bounty of raw emotions. “I’ve been falling for you since I walked you home from Danny’s. And for God’s sake, Iris, you’ve been through hell. If you weren’t a little crazy I’d be worried you were a damn sociopath.”
She laughed at his words, but she didn’t return to the fold of his arms. “I can’t promise you anything.”
“Then how about I promise you something?” he suggested as he prowled closer.
“Oh yeah? And what are you going to tell me? That you’ll be my knight in shining armor? That you’ll magically make all my problems go away?” She didn’t mean for the words to sound so bitter but they did, and she wanted to kick herself for being an ass.
Alec’s wolfish grin appeared behind his scruff, and he said, “I was never much of a white knight type of guy, but I’ll sure as hell be the man who stops you from falling off that cliff you’re always standing on.” He pushed her hair from her face. Just that simple touch made her body scream out for him, and she bit her lip and sighed. “Let me carry your worries for a little while.”
She thought about the week since Alec had appeared in her life and couldn’t deny the days had been brighter. She’d laughed more, smiled more, even had hope that her future wouldn’t look so dreary, but a dark cloud hovered in the back of her mind. “What about Jenson?”
His cupped her cheeks in his hand as a look of fierce protectiveness overcame him. “If he touches you again, I’ll break his fingers.”
He would, too. Iris saw the promise in his eyes. Her mind warred with what to do, but she was on her toes and kissing him hotly, telling him what she could not with words. She couldn’t deny anymore that she was falling for him. Alec’s lips moved against hers, and as every inch of her body burned, she prayed the ember stoked deep inside her would never go out again.
Chapter 10
The kitchen spun around them, and Iris clung desperately to Alec’s shoulders as his lips trailed from her mouth to her neck. His tongue glided against her skin, and her body convulsed in his arms, crying out for more.
“We should have done this the first night we met,” he said in a husky voice.
“I was drunk,” she reminded him with a quiet laugh that turned into a moan when he sucked her earlobe.
“The second night, then,” he replied, his voice strained. “I’ve wanted you tangled up in my sheets every night since, wrapped in my arms with me buried deep inside you.”
Iris gasped at the image splayed across her mind as her hips ground against his, seeking him. His lips found hers again, and their touches became more frantic with each passing second. Every touch of his hand was possessive, hungry, but it soothed Iris’s nerves. She pressed her body against his, tugging at his t-shirt to see his bare skin again, to feel that chest of hard muscle. She yanked it over his head and tossed it behind him as her hands slid down his pecs, dusted with a light coating of fine hair that trailed lower to his jeans. She swallowed hard at the bulge behind the zipper begging to be released, and without thinking of what it might do to him, she pressed her palm against the center of his heat.
Alec’s face darkened with sudden lust as his hips bucked until he rested in her hand. The promise in his eyes was mischievous, and his hands fisted in the back of her shirt as his mouth claimed hers. His tongue delved into her mouth, thrusting in time with the movement of his hips against her hand. Iris wanted all of him, she needed him, and there were too many barriers between. Her hands reached for the button on his jeans, and she was unzipping the zipper when his hands caught hers and wrapped them around his neck. He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, his mouth only leaving hers for a second.
He carried her upstairs and down a short hall to a bedroom she could only assume was his. Once inside, he kicked the door closed and backed her against it. She fumbled with the buttons on her shirt, but Alec was too impatient. He set her quickly on her feet and with both hands ripped her shirt open, exposing her heavy breasts and nipples poking through the thin, lace fabric of her bra. His eyes fixated on the hardened points, and Iris felt them peak, begging to be exposed and laid bare to his gaze.
Alec’s fingers shoved her shirt gently over her shoulders, caressing the smooth skin as he tugged the fabric from her body and threw it aside, his appraising gaze sliding over the mounds of her chest and lower to her bared, flat stomach. Alec didn’t say a word, but he didn’t have to. Every intense sensation flitted across his face in a flurry Iris could barely keep up with. With his free hand, he pushed one bra strap down and trailed his finger across the upper mounds of exposed flesh until she shivered. His fingers lingered on the other strap before letting it slip down, too. His gaze shot back up to hers as he shoved the lacy cup aside and held her in his palm, kneading and teasing her nipple with his fingers. Iris reached for him, but he captured her wrists in one hand and raised them over her head, pinning her hips with his. She fidgeted against him, wanting to touch him, hold him, but he gave her a wry smile right before he kissed her, slowly and deeply.
The bulge in his jeans swelled, and she moved her hips, rubbing against it, eliciting a groan from his chest. “You’re teasing him,” he muttered against her lips.
“And what do you think you’re doing to me?” she countered hotly.
“Driving you crazy with lust first,” he replied, and in one swift movement, unhooked her bra. He dropped her arms to let the garment fall to the floor. The second the lace was gone, both hands replaced it. Iris’s back arched, pressing her breasts hard against his hands. “When was the last time?” he growled as his tongue licked a path from her neck to the sensitive flesh of her
breasts he cradled so hotly.
Iris’s brows knitted when his tongue slipped lower and claimed one of her nipples. He circled it, rolling it with his tongue before sucking hard. She gasped, her hands running through his hair and whispered, “Never.”
His mouth stopped, and she whimpered at the loss of heat. “Never?”
She nodded. “Jenson tried, but he couldn’t complete the job,” she said and smirked. “You’re my first, technically. Never gave me an orgasm, ever, so I guess that makes me part virgin. Still want me?”
If Iris thought he hungered for her before, she was dead wrong. Every muscle in his body tensed, and his fingers caressed the side of her face then lower so his thumb brushed her lips. “I will always want you,” he groaned before capturing her mouth with his.
Her breasts pressed against the hard planes of his chest, and her hands massaged his back, her nails digging in to find purchase as his hand slid down her stomach and undid her jeans. She heard the zipper, and her breath caught as her chest heaved. Delicately, his fingers parted her curls, seeking out her warmth, and the second they found her, he cursed. Her panties were soaked through from his first kiss downstairs, and every touch after only made her body crave him more.
Alec palmed her warmth as he lowered his mouth to her nipple, sucking hard as he massaged his palm against her clit. Iris’s body tensed with every tug of his mouth. A sharp thrill of heat shot down her body, and she moaned as the pressure built within her. His touch intensified, and his mouth kissed a trail across her breasts to the other nipple. Her knees wobbling, Iris dug her hands into his back and cried out his name, her back arching as she quivered against the door. His hand didn’t let up until he’d wrung another moan from her lips, one he quickly swallowed as his lips found hers again, kissing sweetly.
