by E A Price
She shook her head; worry was now starting to creep into her mind.
Risty scrubbed a hand over her face. “Oh, Dee, you can do so much better.”
She prickled at the insult against Casey, and her bobcat was now constantly haranguing her to get away from the jackal shifter. “He’s a nice guy…”
“He’s an asshole!” spat Risty, venomously. “He’s the guy I was dating before I met Ray. He used me for sex and then dumped my ass after he got what he wanted.”
Deanna gulped; she didn’t like where this was going. “Maybe he had a good reason…”
The jackal’s eyes bulged. “A good reason?! The truth is, I wanted to get back together, and he pretended he did too, then after we had sex he suddenly changed his mind. He’s a total dickhead!”
Her bobcat whimpered; even she was starting to have doubts. Surely there were two sides to every story though…
Risty gave her a pitying look. “I’m sorry, but he’s just no good.”
She was grasping at straws. “Maybe, if I could talk to him, and get him to explain…”
Risty snorted. “Do you really want to know what it is like to date Casey Shaw? Then listen closely…”
Chapter Eleven
Casey tapped his fingers on the bar; he was awash with nervous impatience, waiting for Deanna to arrive. He’d been, in turn, excited and restless all day, waiting for this. He could hardly believe the moment had finally arrived. His wolf was prancing around like a puppy, waiting for their mate. He shouldn’t have allowed her to make him wait; he should have insisted they go on a date the previous night. He could have called in sick for her and locked her in his cabin… He tried to calm his raging hormones; he was starting to sound like a kidnapper.
The whole day had been interminable. He had taken a shift at the horse stables, to earn some ready cash for their date. Although, if he had his way they’d go directly back to his cabin anyway, he felt fairly confident he could persuade her. If their first two encounters were anything to go by, she was hot for him. He let out a self-satisfied chuckle.
Working at the stables was dull, and seemingly never-ending at the best of times, but that day, it had been truly terrible. Although, it gave him a chance to offer an apology to Hunter, albeit grudgingly. His beast was still unhappy with the other wolf and blamed him for Deanna’s injury.
Hunter accepted the apology. He was surprised that Casey was so interested in Deanna; admittedly, she wasn’t his usual type. Casey tried to brush it off, but Hunter taunted him by saying he wanted a crack at Deanna after Casey was finished with her. He got another punch in the face for that. While Hunter grumbled, Casey laughed at him and told him at least his eyes matched now.
Kim, a fellow pack member and the manager of Bar Luna, deposited another soda in front of him and winked. His third soda that night. He’d ordered beer, but she absolutely refused to give him any. It was a long seven months until he turned 21.
Perhaps asking Deanna to meet him at Bar Luna was a bad idea. He couldn’t use his fake ID; everyone knew his age, which meant that if Deanna wanted to have alcohol she would have to buy it herself. He didn’t like that idea; he should be buying the drinks. He’d have to worry about that when she got there. If she ever did…
He frowned as he checked his phone again. She was now an hour late, and she hadn’t called or texted. Maybe there was an emergency, and she couldn’t get to a phone. His wolf whined; he didn’t like the sound of that.
Casey stepped outside into the cool night and started dialing her number. He nodded weakly to pack mates, Felicity and Esther as they passed him on their way into the bar. The couple raised their eyes at one another in surprise; usually Casey never failed to give them a wink and a leer.
Casey pursed his lips as the call went straight to voicemail. He asked her to call him as soon as she could, and hung up. He stared at his phone for a few moments. He was sure she had a good reason for running late; she was probably already on her way. No doubt she would be arriving soon, he just had to be patient.
*
Deanna sat on her bed, cuddling one of her bears. Tiring of the obnoxious DJ, she turned off the radio.
Her eyes flicked to the clock again, as they had done every five minutes for the last two hours. It was now three hours since she was supposed to meet Casey.
She’d tried sitting downstairs, and watching TV with her family, but she’d been far too squirmy and agitated to concentrate. Instead, she retreated to her bedroom. She’d reorganized her wardrobe, putting everything in color order, alphabetized her books and then painted her nails. It had been a very long three hours.
Bracing herself, she turned her cell phone back on. She trembled when she found thirty missed calls, and her voicemail flooded with messages.
She let out a groan and threw the bear and phone across the room, before lying face down on the bed. God, she was horrible. Since lunch, she’d been umming and ahhing about what to do. Racked with indecision, she took the spineless option and in the end she did nothing.
She should have called him and cancelled, or she should have turned up and told him face-to-face that she was having second thoughts about being with him.
Her bobcat had been disturbingly silent for the last few hours. Not a good sign. Either her animal was really hurting, or she wasn’t talking to her anymore. Deanna suspected it might be a mixture of the two.
As much as she wanted to see Casey, she couldn’t shake off everything Risty told her. Apart from the way Casey apparently seduced her and dumped her, Risty told her that Casey had borrowed her car and then totaled it, and refused to pay to fix the damages. She then went on to say he had slept with at least two other girls while they were dating; he turned up to dinner with her parents, drunk, when they went to parties together he flirted with other girls… the list went on and on. Deanna questioned why Risty had ever been so keen to get back together with him.
After hearing Risty’s tales of horror, she’d been too rattled to go on their date. Now, she was in two minds, one part hated her for not even giving him a chance to explain, while the other felt a little relieved. The pressure was off, now she was free to die alone…
Deanna frowned as she heard a small bang at her window. She was sure she’d closed that. She went over and tore the curtains open, only to be met with Casey’s face.
She managed to shriek, close the curtains and fall backwards on her ass all at once.
“Is everything alright, Dee?” called Grams, knocking on her door.
Deanna clutched at her chest, willing her thunderous heartbeat to slow. Yikes, he must have climbed up the trellis. She was amazed it had held his weight. “Everything’s fine, Grams. I, umm, fell over putting a pair of socks on.”
“Oh, well, be more careful next time.”
“Yeah, sorry.”
She listened to the retreat of her grandma’s soft footsteps, before clambering to her feet and opening the curtains.
Deanna hesitated at seeing the irritated look on Casey’s face, but her bobcat was absolutely delighted with this turn of events, and urged her to open the window. A little reluctantly she did but only so she could tell him to go away.
She unlatched the clasp, and before she could say anything Casey pushed the window open and heaved himself through. She moved back as the huge wolf crashed onto the floor of her tiny room with a resounding thump.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered frantically.
“I came to pick you up for our date,” he replied, acidly.
He stood up; his huge frame towered over the slight bobcat. His wolf snapped at him to calm down, but he was too upset. The wolf prowled, ready to shift if Casey became too angry.
There was some frantic knocking at her door. “Dee, are you okay in there?” demanded Dennis.
Deanna’s lip trembled slightly; she could scent both her brother and sister-in-law on the other side of the door. “Yeah, I just fell over putting my socks on.” She cringed; undoubtedly her brother could scent the irate wolf s
hifter, and she doubted he liked being lied to.
If Casey weren’t so darn mad, he would have laughed at her alleged sock problem.
“Come on, sweetie, let’s go back to bed,” said Darcy, soothingly. “I’m sure Dee can handle, uh, her socks, all by herself.”
Dennis huffed loudly. “If you need us, just yell,” he growled through the door.
Casey held himself still as he listened to them leave. Deanna pressed herself against the closet; she wouldn’t meet his eyes.
He moved toward her, so they were only inches apart. He reached out a hand to her face, and she flinched. His wolf whined at him to be careful, but Casey continued until he was stroking her cheek. She sighed imperceptibly at the warmth his touch afforded her, and she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. Gently he maneuvered her face round, so she was looking at him.
“I waited for three hours, where were you?”
Her eyes filled with tears, regret and shame coursed through her as her bobcat melted for her handsome wolf. “I’m sorry.”
His wolf wanted him to kiss her, to take her and bond with her. But Casey needed answers. “What happened?” he demanded a little more firmly.
“I… I was scared.”
His stance softened slightly as his wolf growled at him warningly. “Of me?”
“No… well yes, but not the way you’re thinking. I know about what happened with Darcy…”
Casey remained impassive. “It was before I met you; you can’t really blame me for something that happened before I knew you even existed.”
A stray tear ran down her cheek, and Casey caught it with his thumb. “I know, I don’t want to, but it just makes me feel insecure, knowing you were with all these beautiful women before me. Why would you want me when you can get women like them?”
Casey shook his head. “Because, even with her eyes red from crying, and her swollen nose, I’m still looking at the most beautiful woman in the world right now.”
Her bobcat purred in delight, but Deanna could only feel a twinge of bitterness. “You don’t mean that.”
Casey thumped a fist against her closet door. “I do mean that. How dare you doubt me? I would never lie to you, what makes you think I would?”
Deanna tried to turn away from him, but he wouldn’t let her. “Well, Risty said…”
He let out a hollow laugh and moved away from her, rubbing his hands over the back of his head.
“Risty?! So what exactly has the lovely Risty told you? No, actually, let me guess.”
He sat down on her bed, hard, making the frame groan under his weight. His face was grim. “She said she wanted to get back together, and that I led her on so I could get sex, am I getting warm?”
Deanna sucked in a surprised breath.
Casey snorted. “I’ll take that as a yes. Do you actually want to know the truth? Well, whether you care or not, the truth is that Risty came to me, begging me to sleep with her. I told her over and over it was just a one-time thing, and there was no way in hell we were getting back together, and she agreed. The next morning, she played the injured woman, because all of a sudden she couldn’t understand why we weren’t together again. Am I proud of what happened? Hell, no! But I didn’t treat her half as badly as she pretends.”
Deanna chewed on her cheek as Casey looked at her searchingly. “So, what do you have to say to that?”
“Oh.”
Fury flashed over his handsome features. “Oh? Fucking oh?! Fine, okay, what else did Risty tell you? Is she still trying to blame me for destroying her car? I only took the fall for that because she said her dad would go ballistic – I never drive drunk, but Risty doesn’t give a shit. And as for sleeping and flirting with other women, I was no worse than Risty was with other men. Risty is a psycho, okay? She once set fire to my car because she thought I’d stood her up for a date. And if you don’t believe me about that, why don’t you ask Alec? Someone you do actually trust, because clearly you don’t have any respect for me.”
His words stung, but he was right to say them. She should have talked to him, and asked him the truth, but instead she had believed someone else. She had chosen someone over her mate.
Deanna rushed over to the bed and kneeled at his feet. “I’m sorry.”
His chest heaved with the force of his rant, but when he spoke, his voice was soft. “Why didn’t you just talk to me?”
“I’m sorry…”
“Why did you just assume the worst?”
“I’m sorry, please don’t be mad.”
Casey looked at her tear-streaked face and felt his resolve begin to melt. His wolf howled at him to end her suffering. He raked his fingers through her cropped, blonde hair. He let his hands travel down her neck until they reached her waist; he hurled her off the floor and onto his lap. He cradled her in his arms, and she snuggled into his body. They fit together perfectly, like puzzle pieces.
Deanna hiccupped. “I’m sorry; I’ve never really been in a relationship, and I’m just afraid.”
He rubbed her back. “What are you afraid of?”
“Afraid that I’ll lose you, afraid that I’m not enough for you and that you’ll leave me. And that hurts because I don’t want to ever be without you.”
Casey tightened his grip on her. If he had any hope of keeping her, he had to admit what was in his heart. “You’re not going to lose me. You’re my mate, and I love you. I don’t care whether you think this is sudden or not because I do, and you don’t have to say it back. I am never going to look at another woman again; you are everything to me. Before I met you, I might have been kind of…uhh…”
“Promiscuous? Loose? Of easy virtue?” supplied Deanna sourly.
He sighed. “Yes, any of the above, but that’s not important now. You’re the only woman in the world for me; you’re the only one I want.”
“Thank you.”
He chuckled, sending vibrations through her body. “You’re welcome. So, are we okay now?”
Deanna sat up, so she could look him in the eye. “If you can forgive me, then maybe we can start again.”
“I do,” he said, quickly.
A smile blossomed over her face before he kissed her. His tongue eagerly delved into her mouth, tasting her, god it had been far too long. His hands smoothly moved down her back until he was cupping her ass and… she drew back, panting slightly. Both their animals snarled in protest.
Casey pouted, and she giggled. “You know what this means, though, right? From now on, no flirting with other women.”
Casey looked affronted. “The same goes for you too.”
“Fine, I won’t flirt with other women.”
Casey clucked his tongue. “No, I meant other men.”
He leaned in for another kiss, and she pulled away. “It’s kind of late, maybe you should go.”
Casey gave her his best puppy dog look. “You’re not really sending me out into the cold, are you?”
Deanna snickered. “You’re a big bad wolf; I’m sure you’ll manage.”
He yawned exaggeratedly. “But it's late, and I'm really tired…”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, you can stay - but only to sleep, you keep your hands to yourself, mister. And you have to leave before my younger brothers and sister see you, okay?”
He gave her a devastating smile. “Deal.”
Deanna extricated herself from his grip; she pulled the cushions off the bed and closed the window. When she turned back, it was to find Casey, in only his boxers, lying on the bed. He crooked a finger at her, grinning wickedly. Oh, this was going to be hard, she was already quivering from the acres of yummy, toned flesh on display. She was just glad she was already dressed in a pair of thick, purple pajamas. If she had to strip in front of him, she doubted she could have contained herself.
She crawled into bed and immediately found Casey snuggled behind her, an arm around her waist. She flipped the lamp off and relaxed into his body.
“How many other boys have you had in here?” he murmured in her ear.
“None, you’re actually the first.”
His arm tightened round her. “Glad to hear it.”
“Good night.”
“Good night… kitten.”
Chapter Twelve
19th January
Deanna’s eyes fluttered open. For a second, she wondered at the warm cocoon she found herself in before she remembered the previous night. She smiled, and her bobcat purred at feeling his arms locked around her, before gasping as she felt a certain part of his anatomy pressing into her back.
She held still and listened to his gentle breathing, before giggling lightly. Carefully, she disentangled herself from his arms and got out of bed.
Deanna stretched and rolled her shoulders. It was the first time she’d ever spent the whole night with a man, and she’d never had a better nights sleep. She gazed down at Casey; god, he was beautiful. Her bobcat whimpered; he looked like an angel in his sleep. She ghosted her fingers over his face, lifting a lock of hair out of his eyes. She nodded, yep, definitely real. For a second there, she was worried.
It was strange seeing the six foot two wolf in her room; he practically filled her narrow bed. He looked so out of place in the pink sheets and amongst her Care Bears. Maybe she was just a bit too old for this room; it hadn’t come up before, normally, she had no reason to invite a man up there.
She felt a little self-conscious and started grabbing her bears, and stuffing them in her closet. She bent over to retrieve Lucky Bear and jumped as she heard a low chuckle behind her.
She turned to see Casey grinning at her. “Oh, no, don’t stop on my account, I was enjoying the view.”
Deanna rolled her eyes. “I’ll bet.”
Quick as a flash, Casey bounded out of bed and pulled her up his body. He pressed his lips to hers as she wrapped her legs around his torso. He flourished kisses over her jaw, working his way down to her neck.
Deanna moaned lightly and melted into his body. She let out a protracted ‘ooh’ as he nipped her skin, and a deep growl rumbled through his body. She felt unbelievably relaxed, but when she caught sight of the clock, she squealed.
