by E A Price
She brightened a little. “So what are you making?”
“Butternut squash risotto and pumpkin pecan pie for dessert.”
Heather blinked. “Wow. That sounds complicated.”
“Not really,” he replied modestly. Cooking was easy – navigating conversations with women was hard. Though, in spite of his usual bashfulness, it never seemed quite as hard with Heather as it did with other women.
She peered around her kitchen. “I think you already know the kitchen better than I do.”
He shrugged.
Heather gave him a thoughtful look. “Why aren’t the girls flocking to you?”
He shrugged again as he blushed and kneaded the pie dough.
“How come… ummm, how come you don’t have a husband?” he asked, hoping to change the subject away from him.
Heather cocked her head to the side. “You sounded a bit like my mom then.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be, when she says it she's being mean. You’re just curious. Honestly, I love living alone, and I’ve never found anyone I was willing to give that up for. You’ll see; you’ll be here for a few days. You'll be begging to get away by the end of it.”
“I already live with four brothers, two sisters-in-law and my parents – you can’t be that bad,” he scoffed. Heather could not be as loud, selfish or utterly disgusting as the eight of them combined.
“Well, we’ll see.” She took another gulp of wine and watched him some more. Asking what he was doing, and nodding as he told her.
Then she asked him some more about his family, about his pushy mom, his gruff dad, and his irrepressible brothers, and slowly but surely, he started to relax.
Chapter Twenty-One
“I’m watching Sabrina right now,” Heather declared as they settled on the couch.
“Fine.”
Jax had ladled up enormous bowls of risotto, and they had decided to slob on the couch in front of the TV. It had been a long few days, and that was usually how Heather watched TV when she was at home. When she was at home, she usually ate alone – not the type to throw dinner parties or ever cook for any of her dates – and there never seemed to be a point in setting the table for herself.
Heather cocked an eyebrow at him. “You don’t want to argue?”
“I don’t really watch TV,” he admitted as he carefully placed his huge frame on her small couch.
Truthfully, she hadn’t bought it with the purpose of housing a male as large as him. Maybe it was time she got another one though.
“What do you do with your time?”
He smiled. “Listen to audiobooks. Not much of a reader, but I like to listen.”
“Dear lord!” she exclaimed in mock shock.
“You don’t like books?” he chuckled.
“Honestly, I don’t seem to have the time, and TV just takes a lot less effort.”
“Growing up I was the youngest and smallest, and with four obnoxious older brothers – not to mention my dad - I never got the chance to choose the TV channel, so I just started listening to my mom’s audiobooks. She uh,” his cheeks colored, “she liked period romances.”
Heather giggled at the thought of a teenage Jax listening to romances – as Dukes and pirates remorselessly rogered maids and cabin wenches. She clutched at the remote, and a little of her selfishness reluctantly ebbed.
“You know what, I’m being selfish – you are my guest, you’re here to help, and you made dinner – I should be a little gracious and allow you to choose.”
She held it out to him, and he shook his head. “I’m happy to watch whatever you want.”
“Good, because I wasn’t sure I was going to let you choose.”
Jax guffawed and happily remained quiet while she avidly watched her show. He looked up and smiled at her intermittently and when they had finally finished the risotto – he had half her bowl – he fetched them pie and cinnamon ice cream, which he also had the forethought to buy. When her glass ran out, he got her some more wine. When she complained of feeling a chill, he ran and got her a blanket.
She teased he was making her so lazy, but he just blushed and said he was happy to do it.
The evening started with them at separate ends of the couch – which wasn’t that far apart because it was so small. But then she put her feet up; then he spread out a little, then she lay down, he put his feet on the coffee table, her feet were pressing against his thigh, and then her feet were thrown over his lap while he rested his arms on her legs. She didn’t even notice it happening until she was comfortable beyond belief. She didn’t say anything, just enjoyed it while her eyelids drooped.
*
Jax daren’t even move, lest she realize what was happening and wanted to disentangle her legs from him. But he was just pleased for any contact he could get. Yes, he had a silly crush, and he didn’t care, he was just going to enjoy it as much as he could before this was over and she found someone much better than him.
His reindeer startled at the loud noise – she was snoring as she had done at his house. He laughed inwardly as he watched her tiny form, taking in the noisy, bone-shaking wheezes coming out of her. Who knew someone so small and delicate could make such sounds?
Heather was asleep, so he carefully carried her to her bed and placed her in the middle. She was already in sweats, so she wouldn’t be too uncomfortable, which was good because he didn’t exactly trust himself to undress her. He wasn’t unused to the naked female body, he couldn’t grow up in a reindeer herd or his household without seeing females undressed (ugh – his mom was not shy), but it wasn’t the same with Heather. His lust for her was already pretty rampant, and seeing her naked may just make him blow his top.
She was pretty awesome. He thought about the way she had lit up when they were shopping. Her squeals and moans had been painfully arousing. No wonder men went crazy for her – as if he needed more proof of how perfect she was.
He forced himself to walk away and checked the apartment over and over. Didn’t want to risk any horny cougars getting in while he was asleep.
Then he grabbed his iPod and went to bed.
He pulled off his clothes and settled. Not feeling unusually sleepy, he popped his earphones in and started listening to a new book, but he couldn’t pay attention. All he could think of was the evening he spent with the perfect woman next to him and then sprawled on him. He had been too scared to move all night lest she noticed how large and vivacious his embarrassing erection was. Still was - he considered doing something about it… manually. But he didn’t really want to do that kind of thing in her apartment – he wasn’t an animal. His reindeer huffed. Okay, he was part animal, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have manners.
So, here we go, chapter one… He tried to focus on the melodious voice of the narrator, but as the sounds of Heather snoring drifted towards him, it seemed unlikely he was going to get much further than that. Freight train-like snoring really shouldn’t sound sweet, but to him, he couldn’t think of anything better.
Sigh, it would be a long night.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Gah, what?” she mumbled as loud voices shook her out of a deep sleep. Not just any deep sleep, a deep sleep where she dreamed that a certain enormous reindeer shifter was kissing every inch of her body.
Apparently, these dreams were going to be a nightly occurrence. She wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or elated. Okay, so she did know, it was elated.
The incredible dream had been lovely. Her body was warmed by it and her sex already wet and aroused. But maybe her dream really was coming true, because she could hear his voice, was he… Heather scowled as she listened to the unmistakable sound of Carson.
Ugh, what was happening? Heather slipped out of bed and padded through the apartment until she found Jax at her door, blocking the way for an obviously irate Carson who was ranting and growling at Jax to let him in.
“Jax?” she murmured.
Jax straightened a little but didn’t move.
“Go back to bed,” he ordered softly.
“Heather!” exclaimed Carson. “Tell this oafish boy to get out of the way. We have a lot to talk about!”
If it was about wedding centerpieces, she really wasn’t interested. She reached them and placed her hand on Jax’s obscenely hard bicep. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. Oh, my…. Her eyes devoured the acres of taut, toned muscles – the shoulders! The pecs! The other muscles of which she had no idea what they were called! All wrapped in golden skin. He had a smattering of blonde hair over his chest that led like an arrow down to his bulging crotch. Wowzer. He had a body to make men and women weep.
“Go away, Carson,” she said as disdainfully as she could. She didn’t bother to glance at him. Nope, she was too interested in drinking in a semi-naked Jax.
“You are going to be my mate. You don’t fool me with your fake relationship with him,” sneered Carson.
Jax snarled, and Carson leaped back in surprise. Jax was a large male, but he was also shy and quiet, and Heather found him to be infinitely gentle with her. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t get angry, or that he shied away from fights. Or that he wasn’t prepared to go for the jugular. Reindeer may be veggie eaters in nature, but they were not docile, meek creatures – not by a long shot. Heather suspected he might have seriously hurt Carson at that moment were it not for her hand on him, and the fact that the chief protector for the herd and Jax’s cousin Tank were fast approaching.
Tank – by far the most enormous man she had ever seen – hauled Carson into the air as if he were lifting nothing more than a bag of frozen peas.
“Go back inside,” ordered Mal, glaring at Carson.
“I have every right to be here,” griped Carson, swinging in Tank’s unrelenting hold.
“No, you don’t,” snarled Mal. “Go back inside.”
This was directed at Heather and Jax who hadn’t moved. Jax didn’t seem to want to, but Heather quickly coaxed him back, murmuring entreaties to him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, pressing herself against his chest.
“Why are you sorry?” he asked, his anger already gone. See, infinitely gentle when it came to her.
“Sorry that you have to put up with his crap because of me.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Not intentionally, no,” she agreed wearily. Heather rubbed her cheek against his smooth chest. Yeah, she was all for taking advantage of the situation. Okay, so she was acting like a perv, and she didn’t care.
Her phone started obnoxiously ringing, and Jax disentangled himself to answer it. Heather tried not to scowl as he handed the receiver to her and told her it was Harlan. Okay, okay, he was probably just worried about her, but could he not have worried about her in, say, half an hour? Or an hour? Or maybe tomorrow morning?
“You okay?” demanded Harlan.
She heard Temp asking to use the phone in the background and him telling her no and to go back to sleep.
“I’m fine,” Heather replied only slightly crankily. If the roles were reversed, she wouldn’t hesitate to call Temp in the middle of the night, ruining her potential sexual escapades either. “Tell her, I’m fine,” she added watching Jax as he stared at her, massive arms folded over his magnificent chest.
There were some muted reassurances, and Harlan urged Temp to get some rest, but she wouldn’t. Temp was a worrier.
“Mal and Tank will take him back to his alpha, and see that he stays there. He was told explicitly to stay away while we were still negotiating. Apparently, your night doorman tried to stop him and Carson punched him out – hopefully the guy will press charges.”
Harlan sounded apologetic, and Heather felt a little bad about that. None of this was the herd's fault, yet they were at risk because of her crappy taste in men.
“How are negotiations going?” she asked, wanting to change the subject.
“Not great – they’re willing to relinquish the claim only if we pay them an astronomical amount of money.”
“Oh. I hope Branch told them no.”
Her doting dad had always told her she was worth a million bucks, but she doubted that the amount the greedy cats wanted was quite that low.
“He had to,” said Harlan, and Temp humphed in the background. “The amount they want would bankrupt the herd.”
“You shouldn’t consider giving them even a cent.”
There was a click, and Temp’s voice came down the line. “But won’t they ask for the same amount even if she does mate him?” Apparently, she had picked up another extension.
“Darling,” grumbled Harlan.
“To think I was against having a phone in the bathroom!” scoffed Temp.
“Don’t you think you ought to go to bed?” complained Harlan.
“No, now answer the question.”
Harlan sighed and muttered something about saving him from stubborn mates. “Within the rules, if Heather mated him then they could only ask for an amount that is manageable for the herd. But if we want them to withdraw the claim, they can ask for whatever they want – it’s basically blackmail.”
“It’s just like what Harlan went through with his bitch of an ex – she tried to get him to mate her or force the herd to give her own herd money.”
“Language, Tempest!” snickered Heather. Temp rarely swore, and it always delighted her when her prim friend indulged. Temp had used the word ‘fudge’ a lot when they were sharing a dorm room – mostly about something Heather had done.
“Well, she was a bitch,” complained Temp.
“How did Harlan get out of it exactly?” asked Heather.
“He was already married to me,” replied Temp a little smugly, “plus she was a bigamist – so that worked in our favor.”
“I don’t suppose you’re secretly married, Heather?” quipped Harlan.
She pretended to think about it. “I don’t believe so.”
“Shame. Look, it’s late, and someone needs to get her sleep,” he said pointedly.
Heather could almost hear Temp’s eye roll.
“Well, if you want to put me to bed, come get me,” Temp teased, and two seconds later she was already squealing as apparently, he had gone to get her.
Heather bade them good night and hung up when she heard the burgeoning sounds of what was sure to be a passionate encounter. She put the phone down and looked up at Jax.
“Harlan said…”
“I heard.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “You heard all that?”
Jax tapped his ear. “Shifter hearing.”
“Huh.”
“We should go to bed too.”
“Yeah, we should. I’m not sure how much sleep I’ll get tonight though.”
She lifted her eyes to meet his, and he blushed lightly.
“Jax,” she murmured and reached out a hand to his chest.
He caught her hand, circling her wrist before she could touch his flesh.
“Heather,” he groaned, “I… I’ve only ever been with one female.”
“Oh honey, none, one, one hundred – it’s all the same to me. Do you think that matters at all to me?” Experience didn’t make him more or less sexy. She wanted him because he was sweet, because he was lovely, because of the way he made her feel.
Jax shrugged uneasily.
“If you don’t want to, it’s okay, just say.” She held her breath, waiting for him to say he didn’t want this as much as she did, didn’t ache to feel his naked flesh against hers.
He stared at her for a couple of beats, those beautiful blue eyes boring into her before he let out a startled groan and dragged her to him. He lifted her body against his, crushing her curves against him so hard she wasn’t sure she would be able to breathe. But she didn’t care – not when he was bringing his lips down hard against hers.
“Bedroom,” she mumbled against his near-punishing kiss.
A strangled sound came from him, but as he damn near ran to her room, she figured he agreed it was a good idea.
Heather twinkled in laughter as the back of her legs hit the mattress, and she toppled over. Their lips parted, and he stood over her. Panting and eager, she took a moment to enjoy the sight of him, naked and beautiful and aroused for her.
She beamed up at him, and in spite of a little shyness, he grinned. Yes, he hadn’t lost his natural bashfulness, but he wasn’t about to let it stop him.
Heather shuffled up the bed, and he crawled over her, his vast, hot body, covering hers.
“Oh my,” she hissed, as the heat of him seeped into her, almost scalding her.
His body was between her legs, his bulk pushing her apart, opening her to him, his hardness bumping against her already wet sex. Oh hell, she was so ready for him. She couldn’t remember ever wanting anything or anyone this badly.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured as those divine lips traced her jawline.
“You should have my view,” she teased running her hands down his back, cupping his tight buttocks.
Jax growled, arching slightly, pressing his sex more insistently against hers, bathing in her wet heat.
Her lips caught his, and she pushed a hand between them, gripping his length. He grunted into her mouth, and she directed him to her opening, showing him what she wanted, what she needed, and gasping as he pushed inside her.
His body rippled powerfully as he thrust, inexorably parting her flesh, making her tingle and quiver. Her body accepted him, welcomed the wonderful fullness as he sank inside her.
Jax ripped his lips away from hers and stared down at her shuddering form, his eyes dark like his beast.
“Okay?”
“Definitely,” she purred, her fingers digging into his chest. “Don’t stop now.”
He grunted, and his hips snaked back before he thrust inside, hard and deep. She gasped and panted and stole kisses from his lips as he drove himself inside her over and over, pinning her to the mattress.
