by Briers, M L
Mate.
Dex’s hands gripped a white knuckle ride against the black metal railing in front of him. Impossible. He was adamant his wolf was wrong, but he’d be a man blessed if he wasn’t. He would give his soul right now to be between that woman’s thighs, sinking his length into her wet and wanting channel. Damn, he must be losing his mind.
Mate.
She’s not our damn mate! He growled back to his wolf. She’s not Lycan, and she’s certainly not Fae. She’s a human and there was no way on this earth that Fate would have given him a human mate.
Although the woman did have the kind of body a man would die to protect. All feminine soft curves and breasts that would fill a man’s hands when he took her from behind, and all natural, so they would bounce and swing as she rode him…
Dex swallowed hard against the dryness in his throat. Damn but he wanted her. How the hell was he going to get her to stay? How the hell was he going to get her into bed, when she thought he was a complete arse?
Mate.
If only that were true. At least if she was his mate she would feel the calling of her body to his, her soul to his, and he wouldn’t have to do much more than to wait it out. A touch here, a look there. Time spent together would take care of everything. But she was probably in there packing right now.
Dex swung around and walked back to the door, the grimace on his face had little to do with the ache in his groin and more to do with his need to handle this situation.
Damn it, he was an Alpha. He needed to be decisive. Where the hell was his ability to think straight in a crisis? And this was a crisis. If that was his mate, the mother of his future pups, and the woman who was to share his soul, he couldn’t let her get away. But he couldn’t kidnap the damn female either!
“Listen, Miss Brown…” He started, trying to keep his voice deep and seductive, even though he felt like a damn fool talking to a door. “I think we got off on the wrong foot.” Damn, that was lame. He winced at the thought of his inability to be a man. A Lycan man and claim what was his… His?
Mate.
Yeah! I get it! He growled back at his wolf. Accepting what his body and his wolf knew already. Mate.
“Wrong foot? You’ve got to be kidding me…” He could hear her stomping and rustling around the room, and resisted the urge to throw the door open and demand to know what the hell she was doing. Because if she was fixing to leave…
“Can we talk about this? Two rational…”
“Rational? Ha!” He had a mental picture of the woman flailing her arms and spitting fire at the door. The fact that she was still almost naked in his mind and her breasts were bobbing and swaying did little to calm his libido.
Dex put his forehead to the door and closed his eyes. She was fixing to leave, he could just tell. What the hell was he going to do? The mental image of him carrying her down to his truck, one arm around her naked waist as she kicked and screamed, breasts bobbing and…
“Oh Christ…” He groaned into the wood. And then his eyes snapped open as a thought popped into his ailing brain. She couldn’t leave if her car wouldn’t start. No trains, no planes and no Buses went through this town. Nowhere to rent a car, he told himself as he turned and took the stairs down three at a time. She’d have to get the damn thing fixed and the pack owned the local garage.
Mate.
To damn right my friend, he assured his wolf. She wasn’t going anywhere.
Kate pitched her stuff into the open suitcase on her bed as she stomped around her hotel room, mumbling and cursing that man mountain who had invaded her privacy and made her life hell since she got into this backwater, God forsaken, excuse for a town.
Ok, so maybe he hadn’t jumped behind her car for insurance purposes. Him being the owner of the site she was here to get up and running. He obviously didn’t need the money a personal injury claim would bring… But that really wasn’t the point.
From what she could tell Mr-Grumpy-I’m-Your-Boss-So-I-Can-Walk-In-On-You-Naked-And-Stand-There-Gawking-At-Your-Boobs-Thornton, was just this side of demented. Just this side of Neanderthal. Just this side of… the sexiest man she had ever seen in the flesh…
Wait! What? She balked as her own brain branched off into a very different cataloguing of his being.
She certainly wouldn’t mind walking in on him in the buff… But that was just so wrong, she told herself with a grin. She was sure that underneath all of those clothes, and all of that attitude, there was a sculpted hard muscled body that would feel good with her wrapped around it…
Holy mother of… Was she picking up the lunatic gene just by being around him? Where the hell had that come from? She knew one thing. She needed to get out of this town and away from that man before she turned psycho.
How the hell was she going to get out of that contract? From what she could tell there hadn’t been much wiggle room in it at all, at least not on her side. But then she hadn’t felt that she needed any. She could work with just about anybody… But then there was Thornton… Enough said, she thought, launching her shower gel across the room and into the open case.
The way the man had stared at her when he saw her naked was enough to give her the heebeegeebees. She shivered with the rush of heat that chased up her spine and flushed her cheeks a nice deep crimson. It had felt more like being caught in the hard stare of a wild animal, all he needed was the panting and the drooling tongue and…
Don’t even think about it, she told herself as she shimmied into her comfortable work jeans. They tried not to hug, but with her curvy hips most clothes did. It was a curse of her mother’s family genes. There wasn’t a woman on that side of the family that didn’t bounce and sway in one way or another, and it was at times like these that she hated it.
Oh to be a pencil thin fashion model, and she probably could be, if nature had spread her body upwards by another foot or so. Not that she was bitter. Her breasts gave her somewhere to put the TV remote control so she didn’t lose it. A table of sorts. But then there was the drooling, tongue lolling creeps like Thornton.
She shivered again at the thought of his black eyes taking her in, all of her, nearly every last inch. Damn, she couldn’t work for him now. And sure, she was shooting herself in the foot, big time, but so what?
She was good at her job. Damn good. That’s why people like him wanted her… Did he want her? He certainly looked like he did, she wondered as her hand hesitated over the zip of her case. Her stomach was doing an Irish jig as her nerves sent signals somewhere entirely feminine that she couldn’t dismiss, but she could give it a damn good try.
Snap the hell out of it! She growled to her body and mind. Zipping the case with a little more venom than necessary, but it felt oh-so satisfying.
When Kate wrenched open the hotel door he was standing there, leaning back against the railings away from the door with his muscled arms crossed over his broad chest and a look of pure innocence on his face.
Kate narrowed her eyes on him and felt the desire rip through her to give him a mouthful of pure disgust, but she didn’t. Something stopped her, perhaps it was the look of contrition that came over his features, softening them and turning his eyes dark and all puppy-dog enticing.
Oh-no! Stop right there woman! She growled in her mind. He was no puppy dog, more of a big bad wolf at the door, and she could see that his easy stance and fixed gaze on her face were just a façade. Those muscles held pure tension beneath his clothes. He was certainly up to something.
“I wanted to apologise for…” He started, what she thought was probably a well thought out and practiced line.
“Can we not talk about it?” Kate gripped the handle of her suitcase as if it was a life raft, and it kind of was in her own mind. She was getting out of here pronto.
“Ok. But please know I am sorry…”
There he went again, all puppy dog contrition, his eyes begging for forgiveness for the poop he’d just dropped into her favourite shoe.
“Fine, you’re sorry and I�
�m leaving…” Kate went to put one foot in front of the other, but he unfolded his arms and held out a hand to stop her.
“We do have a contract, Miss Brown.” He didn’t want to put any force behind his words. That wasn’t going to work here, not with her, and not right now. He kept his tone soft and even, a little soothing thrown in for good measure.
“We did have a contract Mr Thornton, and now I’m leaving…” She wasn’t going to be stopped this time. Dragging her case behind her she started towards the stairs.
The feel of her case being lifted from the floor, taking her arm up with it, caused her to stop and turn back towards him, even if that was the last place she wanted to look. He had her case in hand and that look of contrition still on his face.
“Thank you, I can manage…” She informed him in clipped tones and he gave her a little half smile.
“I’ve got it…”
“I noticed, but it’s not necessary…”
“Well it’s only polite…”
“Polite? You...?” She balked at the very notion and he had to keep the growl from rumbling through his chest and his temper from edging up a notch at her slur.
“Let me help you…”He offered, trying to put as much sincerity in his words as possible, but she balked again, and again his annoyance crept up a notch.
“I think you’ve done more than enough…”
“I’m just trying to…”
“Yes, aren’t you though…?” She retorted and he lost an ounce of the façade as it slipped from his face.
“I have it, so I might as well carry it.” He shot back, feeling the rush of heat run up his spine and flow through the rest of his body. This woman was infuriating, how the hell could she be his mate?
Mate.
He growled inside. Hell, he growled outside for good measure and saw the woman’s startled gaze as she took a step back. Her heel tittered on the edge of the first step and her eyes went wide.
The fact that she was still holding onto the suitcase handle was both a blessing and a curse. He yanked the case forwards and in turn pulled her away from the stairs. The trouble was she ended up with one hand flat against his chest and her body pressed to the length of his, as he wrapped an arm around her protectively, and then that grip became possessively.
Mate.
You think!? Dex growled at his wolf again. Looking down into the face of a woman who was both shocked and stunned by the feelings that swept through her from the contact of their body’s being pressed together.
His wolf growled its need. Dex internally growled his desire, and Kate looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a speeding steamroller that was coming right at her.
Kate wanted to be right where she was. The feeling of his tensed chest muscles under her fingertips brought a fresh wave of heat to swoop through her. The feeling of his hard body pressed against her forgiving curves caused her stomach to flip like a gymnast going for the gold medal, and the feeling of his hard erection pressed to her stomach made a jolt of pure sexual desire shoot into her womb and dance over her feminine parts until she wanted to moan.
To say she was hot and bothered would be the understatement of the year. It was akin to finding a chocolate bar stashed in the back of the cupboard on day seven of your diet, only better. Maybe bathing in melted chocolate, while eating chocolate, and being the one person on the planet that could consume their weight in chocolate without putting on an ounce of weight.
Kate sighed.
The sound of her gentle sigh had his libido shooting through the roof. To say he was as hard as steel beforehand wouldn’t have been an exaggeration, but now someone had mixed Wolfram into the mixture, and he was beyond hard. He might just have been able to hammer nails into wood with his penis and not give it a second thought.
When his penis twitched a hello against her stomach her eyes went wide and she flushed with panic. Head to toe her body signalled escape to her lulling brain and she went into flight mode.
“Are you trying to kill me?” She breathed out between clenched teeth. She wanted to step back, she really did, but with his arm around her and her lack of brain-leg cooperation it was stunting her ability to do anything.
“It’s just a penis, it doesn’t fire bullets.”He drawled down at her, seductively sarcastic in those deep smooth tones and she balked again.
“You’re sick. You need help…” She informed him none too subtly as her hand released the handle of the case and she tried to use two hands to push at his chest.
“Are you offering to relieve my suffering?” He was almost in wolf mode, the gentle growl to his tone was enough to send her body the signal that they should mate, and she responded to it, stilling against his chest, for all of a few seconds.
“Oh my god, you are unbelievable!” She pushed harder and he took a moment to savour the challenge of her strength against his. There was no real contest, but he liked the feel of her trying, especially when her hips squirmed against his and her stomach rubbed over his arousal. Pleasure and pain.
“That’s what women tell me…” He drawled, stilling her efforts again as he leaned his upper body towards her and his head down over her, forcing her to look up at him.
“Let me go or I will scream until the sun goes down!” The acidity in her tone told him she meant it, and he kind of liked being able to hear, so he gently eased his hold on her.
He also didn’t need the attention her screams would afford him. He had a good reputation within this town and he liked to keep it that way.
“Now don’t go getting all riled…” When she got far enough away she aimed a knee with precision, right at his groin, and boy did she connect.
Dex’s face contorted with the pain that ripped through his sack and up his spine, twisting his guts within him, and he was damned sure he heard a choir of angels. His breath was gone, long since forgotten as he dropped to his knees, the suitcase in his hand also forgotten as he cupped his balls and rolled down on the floor. Pain.
Pain like he had never know before tore through him, became a part of him, and he buried his face against the concrete walkway and rolled back and forth trying to comfort himself in a foetal position.
The wolf within him shot to the surface while his brain lulled in the fires of Hell. Somewhere through that pain, in the far corners of his mind he was aware of how close to shifting he had become.
Most of his brain centred on the pain, the part that was left tried desperately to hold onto his wolf. Keep from shifting, stay human.
Challenge.
The good thing was his erection was gone. The bad thing was his wolf was baying for blood.
CHAPTER TWO
Kate looked at him all curled up on the ground and the wash of guilt ran deep within her veins. It was like watching someone kick a puppy, only it had been her that had given him the kicking.
She winced with the knowledge that she had caused another human being that amount of pain… But then she reasoned that this was her chance to escape this overbearing, egotistical, pig-of-a-man and she snatched up her case and started for the stairs.
“Sorry!” She snapped out over her shoulder as she automatically winced in remorse, even if only to herself. Her boss was still face planted against the walkway groaning in agony, as she hurried from the scene of her crime.
She wasted no time in hefting her suitcase into the backseat and slamming the door shut on her guilt. Dragging open the driver’s door her eyes did flick up to the top of the stairs and the rocking body of the man she had just gutted like a fish, or that’s how she saw it anyway.
Who goes for the balls, except in a last resort? She admonished herself. He wasn’t trying to pin you down and have his wicked way with you. He was hard and flirty… Her brain was really letting her have it. She had overreacted, damn it. Now the poor guy was going to walk with a limp for at least a few days, maybe longer.
Kate cursed and hesitated at the driver’s door. Maybe she should… What? Go and rub them better? The thought
sparked a little feminine awareness within her, she balked at the idea.
He was going to be madder than hell when he dragged himself to his feet, and she had been on the receiving end of his mad earlier today. Did she really want a repeat performance?
“Sorry!” She called out again, not even knowing if he had the capacity to hear or understand her, never having being kicked in the balls herself, she wasn’t sure what he was feeling right now- except pain- she knew he would be in tortuous agony and her guilt cranked up a notch again.
But then the thought of his really good impression of the Neanderthal man crashed into her brain, and she threw herself into the driver’s seat and forced her keys into the ignition with hands that were shaking like a leaf in the autumn winds.
“I’m a bad, horrible, evil person and I’m going to hell.” She mumbled against the steering wheel as she turned the ignition and not a damn thing happened. Nothing, nish, zero, and silence greeted her pained ears as she strained to hear just a buzz of something, just a metal clang, or a damn cough from the engine at least.
“Oh god, I’m going to die…” She mumbled, turning the key back and forth within the ignition in a vain attempt to get the car to start. Stupidity and self preservation kept her turning that key, even though she knew deep within her brain, floating around in the vacuum somewhere, that no sound equalled no damn hope.
“Crap! No! Come on! Oh Lord please!” A flood of curses swept through her mind, one after the other until she had the forethought to raise her eyes and check on the recovery of her ex boss. If he was still down, there was still time to continue her no-hope-in-hell chance to get the car started…
Kate spotted him coming down the stairs and her heart kicked her in the chest as hard as the adrenalin that flowed through her veins. His body seemed to hesitate on each downwards stair, and each downwards stair seemed to cause him to flinch.
