Solstice Heat

by Leila Brown

  She moaned and closed her eyes, hoping that blocking out the light would help with the pain stabbing at the back of her eyes. Most of the heat and fire were gone from her feet and legs, but her stomach, chest, and head were going up in painful flames. It was beyond anything she’d ever felt before.

  She opened her eyes and stared at the wolf. Watched him watching her. He had the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. She blinked several time as she tried to see past the excruciating misery raging through her. A boisterous chiming went off in her head. The honey brown wolf in front of her moved toward the door, as if he heard the chiming too. How was that possible? He padded out the room and nudged the door shut. She was going to die. A horrible, painful, agonizing death, all by herself.

  * * *

  Jason waited until he was out of the bathroom and back in his chair to shift to his human form. He knew if he’d come to that door as a man, she would’ve locked herself in. She was going to need him. As soon as the sickness left, the sexual heat would hit her hard. The longer she’d gone without sex, the harder her need would be. And from her attitude, he’d bet it had been a long while.

  The doorbell rang again. He rolled back to his room and snagged a pair of dark blue jogging pants. If he was right about whose scent that was, he really didn’t want to answer the door naked. Working the pants on took a few more seconds than he wanted. Anyone who was nonpack would have left, thinking he was not at home. Only a pack member would be able to smell him.

  “Open the door, Jason.” The dark timbre couldn’t be anyone but Dane Pearce—the arrogant fool who’d called himself Alpha after Jason gave up the position. He and his few cronies made sure no one openly challenged him.

  Donovan was about the only man in the pack who could have taken them all on, but Donovan still considered himself Jason’s beta. Not to mention that Donovan liked being the sheriff of Climax too much to want to give it up to be pack Alpha. The job sucked, or it did if the Alpha was acting in the best interest of the pack.

  Jason opened the door a crack. “What do you want, Dane?”

  “Can I come in, or do you usually talk to people on your doorstep?” Dane smiled, all humor and warmth absent from his face.

  Jason knew Dane was looking for a reason to kick him out of the pack. And, as much as he wanted to slam the door in the man’s face, he knew that Dane would take that as a challenge for the Alpha position. And if Dane won he would let the single men of the pack use Gio while she was in her heat and then kill her.

  “Some of the pack complained that you used some kind of residual Alpha influence to call the wolf out of them without any warning.” Dane walked past him into the living room, then sniffed.

  Had Gio already gone into heat? Could he smell her? “Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a residual Alpha power.”

  “That’s because most Alphas fight to the death, they don’t walk, I’m sorry, roll away from the position. Without an old Alpha, there is no old Alpha effect.” Dane said the words as he walked the perimeter of the room, smelling the air each time he stopped.

  “True, but since I walked away from being the Alpha, I can’t be made to fight for the position. Maybe only those who still consider me their Alpha answered the call.” Jason stayed close to the door.

  “So you admit to making other pack members shift?”

  “No, I admit that I shifted yesterday. Since I’m not the Alpha, no one should have shifted because of it, unless…you’re not really an Alpha. In that case, maybe my shift caused a lot of the pack to shift.” He should not be antagonizing with Gio going into heat any minute, but he also wasn’t the type of man who would let a challenge, even an unvoiced one, pass.

  “Maybe we should take care of this at the solstice ceremony?” Dane continued to sniff the air.

  Jason opened his mouth only to close it quickly when something made his nose twitch. Oh shit. I need to get Dane out of here. Now.

  “I hate to be rude.” He smiled as he said it, belying the tension humming through his body. Maybe Jason was sensing her heat because he was looking for it. Dane hadn’t said anything yet, so maybe he didn’t sense it. “But I have things to do.”

  “What could you possibly have to do? Roll around this place doing wheelies?” He curled his lips up in a sneer.

  Heat suffused Jason. His beast roared to the forefront. He wanted to taste the man’s blood and watch his face contort as he was pressed down into submission. The entire pack would feel it when Dane surrendered to Jason. “Be careful, Dane. I may not be pack Alpha, but my beast is still alive and kicking.” After that last word, Jason growled low and threateningly. He watched the other man’s eyes widen as he stepped closer to the door.

  “This isn’t over,” Dane said as he walked out.

  Jason quickly turned the deadbolt. He would have to deal with the man soon enough. Right now his main concern was Gio. He wheeled to the bathroom and knocked.

  “Are you okay?” He leaned against the side of his chair to press his ear against the door.

  “I will not have sex with him. I will not have sex with him. He is an Internet perv who tried to molest my baby sister.” Her voice was tiny as she repeated the same thing over and over.

  “I am not a pervert, and I did not try to molest anyone. The person I talked to online sent me your picture, called herself Gio, said she owned her own business, and was interested in learning about a Dominant-submissive relationship. We talked for three months. Did you ever think your sister might have been trying to set us up?” he asked.

  “She wouldn’t do that.”

  Her scent was getting stronger. It was a cross between true vanilla straight out of the bean and a musky citrus. The kind that was sweet but also carried the bite of something a bit more spicy. But as he pulled the scent in, it turned into something deeper and more intense. His sinuses opened as the aroma burned down his airways like an intense peppermint.

  “She couldn’t know. There was no way.” Her voice was more muffled, quieter.

  “Know what? That you liked to be spanked?” He waited for her to deny it, but his only answer was a strong wave of her scent flowing over him. “Do you want me to spank you, Gio? Maybe I’ll spank you softly at first, just to make you jump, to get you wet. Then I’ll really spank you.”

  Another strong wave hit him. It was a gamble talking to her like that, but he wanted to make sure she was open to it. That it excited her. He would have helped her through her heat regardless, but now he knew he could be himself. Totally. As soon as she opened the door.

  Chapter Three

  Gio pulled her knees up to her chest and slowly rocked back and forth. Her entire body was on fire. Sweat dripped down her face, legs, and arms. She could let him help her through this. No doubt he would make it really easy.

  “Open the door.”

  She shivered as his words washed over her. He sounded so good. His voice caressed her, indulged her, made her want to do anything he said. Dangerous. She reached up with shaky fingers and grabbed the doorknob. Her throat closed as she took a deep breath and quickly turned the lock.

  If resisting got to be too much, she didn’t want him just busting in here. “Go away. I’ll be better in the morning. I won’t be jumping into bed with anyone. Once you see that, you’ll have to let me go.” It made sense. If she could resist him, then everyone else would be a piece of cake.

  “It’s going to get worse. Much worse. Soon that little cramping pain is going to grip your stomach so tight you’ll feel like you can’t move. And the longer you push against it, the longer it will take us to make it stop.”

  “Just shut up, okay.” Her legs were going numb. Or maybe they weren’t numb, maybe it was the cramps slowly crawling up from her upper thighs and contracting her stomach. Another cramp hit her, and she moaned out loud. Inside her head, she heard a pop and looked around, expecting him to have broken in. But things were worse than she’d thought, because the door looked funny. The color was off somehow. Without moving, she cau
ght sight of a mosquito on her right side. She should have had to turn her head to see that, but she didn’t. “What did you do to me?”

  “Just let me help you.”

  She heard the anguish in his voice but couldn’t let that sway her. She didn’t know if she could let herself be so vulnerable. And she had no illusions—she would be at his mercy. Her nipples hardened as she imagined him spanking her. She didn’t know whether to believe her sister had tricked him or what. Her stomach cramped again, pushing almost every single objection down. How much longer was she going to be able to resist opening that door?

  After another pain ripped through her body, she pulled in a shallow breath and smelled something spicily irresistible. Every cell in her body told her to open the door and find out what it was, but she was too afraid it would be him, and if it was, she knew she wouldn’t be able to say no to him again.

  More of that tasty scent filtered into the bathroom. It had to be him. Saliva pooled in her mouth, and her throat dried up, and suddenly she couldn’t swallow. He was the nice cool drink she needed.

  “You’re starving the wolf inside. Eventually she’ll break loose and take over. Then you won’t have a choice. I’m not going to let you hurt yourself.”

  Her stomach tightened again, and this time she also felt the clenching inside her sex. She moaned. The pain in her belly only barely outpaced the pleasure from the hard clamping of her muscles. She felt empty. Another cramp tightened her pussy walls, and pleasure flooded her. Without the pain to keep her focused, she knew she was going to lose her will—fast. The smell was too good. She needed to move away and maybe it wouldn’t be so strong. Gio held her breath and crawled over to the toilet. Another cramp hit her.

  Before she could move, the door slammed in. She was amazed, because it was as if it all happened in slow motion. She saw the slight bend of the wood before it shattered around the lock. She scooted away as he rolled his chair into the room.

  “Come here.” He held his hand out to her. His sexy large tanned hand.

  She shuddered and scooted farther into the room until her back hit the cool tile of the bathtub. There was nowhere else to go. She knew if she tried to run, he would grab her. He might not be able to walk, but his arms worked just fine.

  “Why are you doing this? You’re going to kill me anyway.” Her breath caught as the pain of the stomach cramps raced through her, chased closely by the pleasure of the lower spasms.

  “I’m not going to kill you. I will take care of you until you find a pack member to mate with.” His voice was low and soothing. And it grated on every single one of her nerves.

  “What if I don’t want to mate with someone? Do I die, then?” She felt like she was dying now. Why the hell should she suffer twice?

  “No. I turned you, so I’ll teach you and help you when you go into heat. You’re my responsibility.”

  She squinted at him. “I haven’t been anyone’s responsibility for a very long time. And I’m not about to start now. Put me in a room with a good lock. This need has to go away, right?” She slowly counted to ten. When she looked up, she tried not to notice his muscular arms and abs. This man was so mouthwatering. She wanted to reach out and stroke him to see if he was as hard as he looked. She bit her bottom lip as she curled her hands into tight little balls. Don’t touch him. Don’t touch him.

  “Fine, we’ll do this the hard way.” He rolled the chair backward out of the room. For a second she felt like whimpering because he’d left her. She should not be sad over his leaving, but there it was. She closed her eyes. Then she heard the soft sound of wheels on the linoleum. She peeked and saw him coming in backward. Oh shit. She looked around. There wasn’t anywhere to go.

  Before she could scramble over the side of the tub, he grabbed her. The second his hand touched her, heat exploded up her arm, and her entire body burst into flames just below the skin. She closed her eyes, determined not to look at him. She pulled in a breath, and his smell punched her in the gut. Her stomach cramps stopped, and the pussy cramps shot into overdrive. Don’t move. Don’t move. She tried not to. But something just below her skin itched with need, and she couldn’t keep still. One small twitch while sitting on his lap and she felt something hard dig into her hip. Please be the chair. Please be the chair. Definitely not the chair.

  “Breathe or you will pass out.” His voice was soft, deep, and it made her heart jump.

  She didn’t realize she was holding her breath. When she let it out, she sagged into him. Into his warm heat. Into that hard body that burned away all her resolve. If she fucked him, the feelings would go away, and she could deal with the situation. One time and she could think enough to find a way out of this cluster fuck. Mmmmm…fucking. She had to get her mind on something else.

  He draped one arm around her waist and used the other one to roll the chair out of the room. She should fight him. She should twist out of his arms and onto the cold, hard floor. She should do anything other than sit here and fantasize about running her hands down his chest and over his tight abs. Jason with no shirt on was more temptation than she could resist.

  She was going to regret this in the morning. Hell, she was going to regret it the moment her body stopped beating her mind into submission.

  “Tell me this is going to go away. I won’t feel like this anymore after we have sex.” At this very second she wanted to hear the words, regardless of if they were true.

  “I’m not going to lie to you. It takes hours to satisfy the mating urge under normal circumstances. But you were bit by an Alpha. It will take a lot longer. And fighting it until it builds to an almost uncontrollable level will only prolong things.”

  Gio raised her hand and patted his face. “Your bedside manner sucks.”

  When he lowered his face a bit toward her, she couldn’t help but tilt her head. She wanted to kiss him. Needed it. One kiss. Just one kiss. Maybe it would help. Like a little bit of alcohol the morning after helped to cure a hangover. Right?

  “Wait until you see my manners inside the bed,” he whispered.

  His lips descended on hers, and there was no turning back. He stopped moving the chair and wrapped his other hand around her. She should have pushed him back, but she didn’t. When he traced her lips with his tongue, she opened her lips. He surged inside and curled his tongue around hers. He tasted hot and spicy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. Really close. Damn, he smelled good.

  “Jason, I thought I saw Dane driving away—”

  Jason broke the kiss and groaned. “Never should have given him a key.”

  Gio licked her lips and listened to her thundering heart. She should have been the one to end it. But her body was still zinging from that kiss. One kiss. More like the match that sent her into an inferno. What the fuck had she been thinking? Kissing him had only made things worse.

  “Sorry.” Donovan stared at them. He held three large paper grocery bags in what looked like an uncomfortable stranglehold, but he didn’t move to set them down.

  Well, she was sitting on Jason’s lap, and just a second ago she had been so wrapped around him that anyone might have thought she was trying to crawl into him. Well, at least she could fix one of those. Gio pushed at Jason’s arm to dislodge his hold, but he didn’t budge.

  “Yeah. Dane stopped by. He said I caused a pack shift.” Jason moved one arm down to control the chair but kept the other wrapped around her waist.

  “Bet that pissed him off,” Donovan said as he walked into the kitchen.

  Jason wheeled after him. Gio didn’t look at either man. Her first priority was getting up. Her second was figuring out what the fuck she was going to do. Locking herself back in the bathroom just seemed childish.

  “Stop moving. I do not want to fight Donovan for you,” Jason said in a huffy voice as he tightened his hold.

  “Why would Donovan fight for me? He doesn’t even like me.” She faced Donovan. The man looked at her, then cocked his head to the side.

  “It�
��s not a matter of like. It’s a matter of want. And once my wolf smells you in heat, he’ll fight to take over. If he does, either Jason or I will die.” Donovan turned to the pantry and started stacking food. “I thought I would have enough time to put the food away, but that was before I opened the door.”

  “Was it that strong?” Jason asked as his forehead creased into little lines. He readjusted Gio over his legs. “Do you think Dane smelled it?”

  A fresh wave of desire swept through her. She stopped trying to get away from him and went still. Maybe if she didn’t move, her body wouldn’t start… An intense cramp pulled the walls of her pussy together once. Then again and again. She bit her bottom lip to keep from moaning.

  “I would be more surprised if he didn’t. I’ll call deputies Kane and Abel to watch him.” Donovan put the last of the groceries away and balled his fists. “I need to go. Call me when you come up for air.” He stalked across the room and was out the door in a flash.