HAMMER (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 16)

by Samantha Leal

  Janie trailed off. What she was saying sounded stupid. What was the point in letting her private thoughts come out of her mouth? Saying them out loud would only make Dean want to mock her.

  But to her surprise, instead of making fun of her, Dean’s hand was suddenly on her shoulder and he was looking deeply into her eyes. Janie’s heart hammered in her chest as his handsome face came inches away from her own. All thoughts left her mind and suddenly, the only thing in the world that mattered was Dean.

  “Thank you for feeling that way,” Dean said. “But I’m actually a piece of shit.”

  “Why?” Janie asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

  “Because of how much I want to do this.”

  Dean’s body was suddenly pressed close against her and the small fire in her loins exploded into an inferno of heat. His lips grazed hers, gently at first, and then more urgently. Janie gasped as her body was engulfed in flames at the sensation of Dean’s hard cock pressing against her thigh as they kissed, his tongue and hands pleasuring her in ways she could never have imagined.

  She wanted nothing more than to give everything to him; her body, her mind, her time. But the man was her boss, for crying out loud. She couldn’t just throw her career away because Dean Resner wanted a booty call with his young new intern. No matter how badly she wanted it, she wouldn’t be used and thrown away like that.

  Janie pulled away panting, putting her hand over her racing heart. The man knew how to kiss, that was for sure. But he also knew how to use his words and charm the pants off of anybody he wanted to charm.

  Still, his eyes were confused and sincere when she cut off the passionate embrace so quickly, and even though her body wanted nothing more than to surrender to the sensual thrills of Dean’s mouth, hands, and…other things…she couldn’t let herself throw her career away for a tryst with a horny billionaire. She had work to do. Plans.

  “Is this why you go through interns so quickly?” Janie demanded breathlessly, standing from the loveseat. Her legs were quaking beneath her, and she considered it a miracle that they didn’t buckle under her weight. “You fuck them and then hang them out to dry?”

  “What? No. Janie, I…”

  “Look, maybe we should call it a night. I’m flattered, but I think it’s best if we just keep our relationship professional right now.”

  Dean stood and frowned. “I shouldn’t have done that. It was completely inappropriate. I’m sorry.”

  Dean turned his back on Janie and she had to stop herself from running to the door to keep him from leaving. She watched, her body on fire from head to toe, as Dean disappeared out the front door without a single look behind him.

  11.

  “How could you have been so stupid?!” Dean growled at himself. The wolf had caused him to do some ridiculously impulsive things in the past– things that could ruin his career if they came to light–but this time, it had simply gone too far. “She’s barely legal! What the hell are you thinking?”

  Dean punched the steering wheel a little too hard and suddenly remembered that this wasn’t his vehicle to beat up. It belonged to the moving company. He would have to try to be more considerate than he was being if he wanted to stay on good terms with the people of Stonybrooke. Although he had been the alpha of his pack there once before, not giving a damn about anything or anyone but ruling the world, afterward he had chased true success, and the pack that had formed beneath him dissolved as he toured the world and left the town he was raised in behind.

  “You might as well give up the company to Kiera right now if you’re going to be pulling this shit, because everybody is going to be talking about what a pervert you are. Who’s going to want to protect their kids with equipment made by a man who can’t seem to keep his hands off of young women?”

  The wolf seemed unimpressed with his logic, which made the whole thing that much more infuriating. Maybe, in nature, it was better to simply claim your mate and move on, but he had already been there and done that. Dean had claimed his mate and she had turned out to be a psychopathic bitch who wanted to tear down everything he had spent his entire life trying to build. What good would come from allowing that to happen again? The whole notion was absurd.

  “It wouldn’t even matter if Janie really was different from Kiera. I’m not different. I’m not going to treat her better than I’ve treated any of the other women in the past, especially not during all of this shit with the divorce. In fact, I’d probably treat her like the worst rebound girl of my life. I can’t let myself do that to her.”

  But the wolf already knew what it wanted, and he could still feel his cock burning heavy and hot against his thigh. All he wanted was to turn the van around and ask Janie for a second chance. Ask forgiveness for being so forward and let her in on all of the bittersweet details of his life. And, ultimately, to make his claim on her official.

  Unfortunately, that’s exactly what he had done with Kiera, and it had all turned out to be one expensive and soul-crushing waste of time. He couldn’t let that happen again. No matter which way you looked at it, it seemed destined for failure. And that was the sad truth of the matter.

  “Hey, you’re back!”

  The human-wolf hybrids that had loaned the van out to Dean were still waiting in the office when he got it back to them, and he forced himself to smile at them. Even if he gave the wolf its way and eventually mated with Janie, the two of them would end up having human-wolf hybrids like these two weaklings. What kind of alpha would he be? There were so many reasons to fight his feelings, no matter how hard the wolf tried to claim Janie.

  How shocked Janie would be to know he was thinking such thoughts. The man she considered to be the face of shifter and human integration was balking at the idea of his first pups being hybrids.

  “Thanks for helping us out today,” Dean said, fishing in the pockets of the swim trunks for his wallet. He cursed when he realized that in the shift earlier in the day, he’d left his personal possessions back at the office. “I’ll send over compensation.”

  The men nodded. Everybody in Stonybrooke knew that Dean Resner was as good as his word.

  By the time he got out of there, it was already getting late. The sun had set, and the moon was rising high in the sky. Dean headed straight for the forest and stripped off the terrible smelling thrift store clothes that Janie had gotten him. His cock was still aching for release, but this wasn’t the place for it. He would shift into his wolf form and head back home.

  At least there, he wouldn’t be thrown off by the power of his temptations. Nothing would stand in his way there.

  ***

  Dean tossed and turned that night, lost in a deep, fitful sleep. Janie was hovering about his dreams, more beautiful than he had ever before seen another person in his life. Not even Kiera could compare to the sensual inner glow that radiated through Janie and touched the deepest part of him.

  In the dream, Janie was dressed in a long white gown, her hair finally out of the tight bun she wore to work and laying loosely on her shoulders. Her smile was serene and beautiful, and her eyes completely hypnotic; it was as if they moved the same way as the crashing of ocean waves would ripple throughout the ocean. He simply couldn’t look away.

  When she finally crossed the earth to stand in front of him, the gown was slipping from her shoulders and Dean sank his teeth deep into her neck. She let out a soft gasp of pleasure, and then suddenly, in the fragmented but fluid motion of a dream, Dean’s cock was inside of her and he felt the heat of her body tighten around his shaft. He closed his eyes in pleasure and shock as the feeling filled him up entirely. It was so much more intense in his dream, and he closed his eyes as he surrendered his control to Janie for once, and a hot flood poured from a deep, tingling well inside of Dean’s abdomen.

  He seemed to know immediately that the seed took, and he pulled away from Janie, falling from the heat of her body and looking at her as if in a new light. Now, not only was she peaceful and serene, smiling as if she knew the
answers to every secret ever uttered in the universe, but she was with child, and the fruit of her belly was round and ripe. He had never seen anything so beautiful.

  Dean woke up with a start and cursed, realizing that he had climaxed in his sleep. He got up groggily to take a quick shower and try to get at least another hour’s worth of sleep before he had to get to work. He had fallen behind the day before, helping Janie with the move.

  Still, the image of Janie’s pregnancy haunted him and refused him his next hour of sleep. It felt profoundly important, almost prophetic, but he knew he was only having these thoughts because of how insulted she’d been when he had asked if she was pregnant. It had seemed like a joke to him at the time, but he quickly realized it was more of an inside joke to him and more of an insult to her.

  How strange, considering seeing Janie pregnant was the most beautiful image he’d ever had implanted in his mind.

  Besides, now that there were more bear shifters hanging around, it meant that all pregnant women were in danger from the bear shifters. In the beginnings of the war between the bears and the wolves, countless pregnant women were killed to lower the numbers of wolf shifters. It hadn’t happened for a long time, but with the recent surge of bear shifters in Stonybrooke and the fact that they were grasping for power, particularly his company, things were looking grim and shifter women had been advised not to conceive.

  It was just a dream, though, fortunately. He doubted he would be able to breed with a human anyway. Not unless she was his one true mate.

  Dean got ready for work in a daze. It would be easy to avoid Janie, if nothing else. And if it wasn’t, and she hated him for what he had done, then that would be fair too. He could simply put her in another department so they would never have to see each other again.

  Simple as that, right?

  ***

  Dean was surprised when, bright and early, his secretary came on the line.

  “Sir, Ms. Alexander is here to see you.”

  “All right,” was what Dean said aloud, but “Fuck!” was what he was thinking. He wasn’t sure he was ready to face her. Not after what had happened the night before, both in the waking world and in his dreams.

  A few moments later, Janie entered and the whole room filled with her delicious scent. The wolf immediately became alert and Dean sat rigidly at his desk, silently demanding it stay silent.

  “What can I do for you this morning?” Dean asked, doing his best to maintain an air of authority, even though they were probably both thinking the same thing. It had felt so unbelievably good to touch her body. But now, just remembering it made him feel sick to his stomach. He had been rejected. And rather fairly, at that. It was kind of a first for him.

  “I wanted to talk to you,” Janie said, gritting her teeth and looking down at the floor. “Privately. Is it all right if we arrange dinner tonight? The team was hoping to meet you and I thought that you might want to have a quick bite to eat.”

  “Of course,” Dean said automatically, when what he was really thinking was “Shit!” The wolf seemed to be grinning smugly at him for thinking he had any real control over these matters. Apparently, when he was with Janie, all bets were off.

  “Great,” Janie said, standing up. She was about to head out the door, but seemed to think better of it and looked at him with a smile playing her lips and a twinkle in her eye. “You look much better in your business suits.”

  Dean laughed despite himself and Janie’s features visibly relaxed.

  “I’ll see you at dinner,” she said.

  “Right. I’ll arrange for the limo to take us tonight. I’ll give you a call when I’m ready.”

  Janie nodded and walked out the doorway, and Dean could almost hear her heart beating. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in him. He could tell from her body language–not to mention the maddening scent of her arousal–that she was. There was something else stopping her. Something she wasn’t saying...beyond how utterly inappropriate it was for him to be interested in a young employee. Maybe he would be able to get it out of her during dinner.

  Dean looked down at his desk and sighed at all the work he had abandoned in his stressed state the day before. Worrying about Janie and her feelings toward him would have to wait. For now, he had more pressing matters. Most importantly of which involved his ex-wife.

  It was time for him to stop puttering around and entertaining thoughts of a fling with a young woman who didn’t want to be with him and start focusing on what really mattered; saving his business.

  12.

  Nervous butterflies hurled themselves against the confines of Janie’s stomach as she waited in the lobby for Dean to come down from his office. He had sent her a text message a few moments beforehand telling her that he was ready to meet and that the limousine was on its way. Truth be told, she had never been in a limo before, and the idea of being in one and going to dinner with Dean Resner, of all people, was exceptionally exciting.

  Except for the fact that he had made a move on her the night before. That kind of put a damper on the whole situation.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t like Dean. She really, really did. The issue had more to do with her own insecurities. She was just a small town girl from California with no dad to speak of and a mother that seemed to care more about what she looked like than what she was doing with her life. The only support she’d ever had was from Leah. Otherwise, she was a self-made woman who had put herself through school and used old-fashioned hard work to achieve her goals.

  She didn’t hold a candle, physically or otherwise, to women who were born with everything handed to them on a silver platter, or with women like Dean’s ex-wife, who seemed to be sticking it to him for all it was worth. She knew the divorce was hitting him hard, but fucking around with an intern wasn’t the way to cope with that. And she couldn’t play second-fiddle to a woman like Kiera. There was no way she would ever be able to compare.

  “Good evening.”

  The masculine rumble of Dean’s voice electrified Janie immediately, and she turned around to greet Dean, who looked tired, almost haggard.

  “Are you all right?” she asked, frowning. “You don’t look like you feel very well.”

  “It’s just been a long day,” Dean said, avoiding her gaze. “Come now. Let’s grab dinner before we meet up with those hooligans.”

  Janie laughed but shook her head. “They’re not hooligans. They’re kids with nothing to lose who need something to look forward to. Let’s try to give them a chance, all right?”

  Dean’s eyes were suddenly fixed on her, intense and dark, and Janie shifted under their scrutiny. He walked to the limousine and opened one of the doors for Janie to enter. She smiled gratefully at him before he joined her on the other side of the limo, let in by the chauffer. It was all very elegant, and Janie took in the experience in awe. There was a bucket of ice and champagne between them, but neither made any effort to break it out as the driver settled into his seat and began his trek beyond the limits of Stonybrooke and toward the city.

  “I thought I would treat you to a five-star experience,” Dean said. “There aren’t many places in the world I love to eat, and you’ve already been to one of them. So I thought I’d take you to the other.”

  “But they’re both so close to home,” Janie said, a little bit puzzled by the fact. Still, it was amusing, and Dean nodded.

  “I am loyal to this place, for whatever reason. It’s where I’ve laid my roots and hope to stay for the rest of my life. There’s no reason why not.”

  “Agreed,” Janie said.

  They were quiet for a moment before Dean finally turned to her, his voice lowered.

  “I’m sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have done that. I’ve got to admit, I’m in kind of a vulnerable place right now. The divorce has left me with a lot of things to deal with, and I guess, somehow, you make me feel…I just really love to be around you. And I don’t know why. But I shouldn’t have allowed that to interfere with our working re
lationship.”

  Janie blushed. In a way, she had hoped he might try again, because after he left, all she could think about was feeling his hands roaming her body and succumbing to the power of his touch. It had been a long, sleepless night, haunted by possibilities and the memories of Dean’s body. But she had to control herself.

  “I forgive you,” she said carefully, trying to figure out what to say to him. She had been burning to talk to him about their relationship; to maybe find some peace in the chaotic physical and emotional entanglement they were beginning to share. But if he was going to stick with an apology then there was no reason she should make herself vulnerable by talking too much about what she had wanted to do with him.

  “It was harsh of me to accuse you of sleeping with your other interns. That wasn’t very professional. I can tell that things have been difficult for you lately…because of the divorce and all…and maybe it was a sore spot that I shouldn’t have ventured into.”

  To Janie’s surprise, Dean laughed.

  “How are you supposed to know what I do in my spare time? Of course it would make sense for you to come to that conclusion. I’m honestly shocked at myself for my lack of restraint. And I want to assure you that it will never happen again.”

  Janie opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again. It would never happen again? That was an oddly disappointing thing to say. What if she wanted it to happen? Maybe under different circumstances…like if they weren’t working together, perhaps. But she was exactly where she wanted to be, professionally anyway, and it was better to stick to the plan. Nothing could get in her way if she did that.

  They finally pulled into the parking lot for the restaurant and Dean smiled at her.