by Tasha Black
“Oh, um, sure.”
Ainsley glanced over the backyard. It didn’t look particularly menacing. Fireflies were beginning to hover lazily among the trumpet flowers that were trained on the white
picket fence.
When she turned back he was already seated and chomping enthusiastically on a big
bite of steak.
Well, if he wasn’t standing on ceremony neither was she.
Ainsley took a big gulp of wine and slid onto her bench. She cut off a small piece of meat and almost retched. It was scorched on the outside and red and bloody on the
inside.
Clive was looking up at her inquiringly as he worked a gigantic bite. She gave him a
little smile.
“I’ve never had steak quite like this. Where did you learn to cook, Clive?”
“Seared on the outside, rare on the inside - it’s called Pittsburg style. It’s the only way to eat a steak. Everyone knows that,” he declared and took another enormous bite. Case closed.
Ainsley realized that he wasn’t planning to have a dinner conversation. In some ways
that made things easier. She concentrated on locating a well-done edge of the steak that she could nibble on. It was slow going. Finally she gave up and worked on her salad.
In any case, she wasn’t feeling very hungry. It was partly the bloody steak. But it was also the trouble of wondering what to do when the meal was over. She toyed with her
last few bites of salad.
Clearly they couldn’t go straight to bed. But there was literally nothing else in the house to do.
How could she have failed to think this through?
She blamed Cressida for distracting her. Thoughts of that particular distraction made Ainsley squirm in her seat a little.
Clive made a smacking sound and she looked up to see that his steak was gone. He
had eaten it - gristle and all. Ainsley wondered for a minute if he might gnaw on the bone.
He looked like he was considering it.
Clive glanced up and eyed her plate hungrily.
“Are you going to finish?”
Ainsley vaguely wondered if what she had done to the steak even constituted starting.
“No, it’s all…”
He had grabbed her plate.
“…yours,” she finished weakly.
“Thanks,” he said. “These steaks aren’t half-bad. I usually don’t go for all that grass-fed, organic stuff, but they might be on to something.”
He gave her a warm and grateful smile, then dispatched with the steak in record time.
Crap.
There was no more food. Ainsley sipped her wine and prayed for an idea of what to do
next.
Clive wiped his mouth politely. Then he took her hand across the table.
“Ainsley, thank you for bringing me to your home for a delicious meal.”
“Oh, you’re welcome, Clive. Want to go for a walk? I’d love to hear about you –what
you’ve been up to since high school? It’s such a pretty night.”
If you considered thousands of mosquitos and air that was so warm and heavy it was
hard to breathe pretty.
Clive looked into her eyes with sympathy. Then he smiled a slow, sexy smile.
“Ainsley. You don’t need to play games. I’m honored to be here. We have the rest of
our lives to get to know each other. Let’s just cut to the chase.”
Ainsley struggled for something to say. For whatever reason, she just didn’t feel
ready.
“Wait, there is a bed in your room, right?” he asked worriedly.
“Yes, there’s a bed,” she assured him.
He smiled broadly and then began to look over what he undoubtedly assumed to be
his new mate. He glossed over her face and eyes but he lingered on her breasts. She
became aware of her own breathing. Each breath pushed her breasts tight against the
fabric of the dress.
His jaw tightened and she could hear his heart began to thunder and smell his
arousal.
Well, she didn’t have anything else to feed him.
And he was smoking hot.
If she could concentrate on all those bulging muscles, she shouldn’t have any problem.
She might just have some fun.
C H A P T E R
1 2
Erik paced the floor.
The porch was twenty five steps across. He knew because when books and TV weren’t
enough to distract him, he’d begun pacing. And when pacing wasn’t enough he counted
his steps. It made him feel like the whole thing was a bad dream and he was a kid again, counting sheep.
But then the images would sneak in anyway. Ainsley, her small softness crushed by
Clive’s gigantic form. Clive wrenching the pleasure from her that should be Erik’s. That special spark she had inside growing dimmer every day she spent by his side.
A sharp scent in the air caught pulled him out of his thoughts. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or frustrated.
“Cressida?”
Instead of answering she thundered up the front steps. He winced in anticipation of
the bang of the screen door.
True to form she let it slam, then looked at him hard.
“What’s the matter with you?” she asked.
Christ.
He didn’t want to talk about it. Or maybe he did - but definitely not with Cressida.
All he could think of was Ainsley.
Was it done yet? Would it be easier when it was done?
“Nothing, why are you here?”
“Um, why am I usually here?” she asked with maybe a third of her usual sultriness.
He stopped short and looked at her again. Something was different about Cressida
tonight.
As he left off pacing to circle her, she shrunk back a little.
What had she done this time?
The breeze changed and Erik froze.
“What the hell? Were you? Did you?...” he couldn’t even find the words to accuse her
with. She smelled like Ainsley.
Suddenly he realized what was different about Cressida. She was here to talk.
The problem was, she was covered in Ainsley’s scent.
“I went to see Ainsley today,” Cressida said, like she had just remembered to tell him she’d borrowed a shirt or something.
He was silent, so she continued.
“I went over there to tell her to stop mind-fucking everyone and pick someone.”
That sounded pretty much like Cressida.
“Then when she looked at me, the weirdest thing happened.”
He knew there had been something happening when they met the last time. Too bad
instead of applauding his good instincts he had to picture Ainsley getting laid by two of his friends in one day.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I know what-”
“We fucked!” Cressida interrupted. “She’s fantastic, she tastes like a peach and bucks like a bronco. She’s in touch with her wolf too, even though you wouldn’t think it. Would you believe she dominated me? It was crazy hot. I only wish you could have been there.
Hey, you know, it was when she smelled your cum on my ass that she finally let loose.
Her boobs are the size of-”
“Enough!”
Cressida’s eyebrows went up. She stopped speaking and waited to see what he would
do.
“I don’t want to hear about it!”
“Why not?”
Because it’s not fair.
Because you don’t even like her.
Because I…
Because I love her.
Shit.
“Because Clive Warren is at her house right now.”
His words hung in the air.
“No,” Cressida breathed.
Erik didn’
t reply.
“No, no, no, Erik what are you doing?” Cressida demanded.
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean? I mean are you seriously going to let that dumb cop take what’s
yours?”
Erik stared at her, dumbfounded.
“Are you fucking kidding me? I knew from that first night in her kitchen there was
something crazy between you guys. And then MacGregor said something about her dad
wanting her to choose you. I thought you had it in the bag, Erik, and you were just taking it slow.”
Erik didn’t know where to begin.
“What do you mean MacGregor said her dad wanted her to pick me? When did he say
that?”
“It was a couple nights ago.” Cressida actually looked a little embarrassed. “He’s still kinda hot,” she added defensively.
“She told me MacGregor said she should pick Clive.”
“She lied.”
“Why would she lie?” he asked. “And why didn’t I notice?”
“Because, Einstein, she likes you,” Cressida said. “And you were half out of your mind when we found her door open that night. She could’ve told you anything.” She shook her head. “How you could be such a fantastic lay and know nothing about women is a total
mystery. Now are you going to sit around playing twenty questions with me or go over
there and stop her before it’s too late? I can’t believe you were just hanging around here pacing.”
“Why do you care?”
Cressida gave him one of her rare sincere smiles. Then she looked down and kicked
the new pine floors he’d just installed.
“Because, you’re my friend. Besides,” she teased, “you might let me fuck her again
one day. Clive will lock that shit down.”
Erik growled.
“Now move, Erik. Can you imagine Clive as alpha? We’d all be fucked.”
Erik stripped down in record time. His body expanded into wolf form. His muscles
bunched and he leapt.
His head was finally clear.
Things were so much simpler when he was a wolf.
C H A P T E R
1 3
A insley marched upstairs like she was headed to face a firing squad.
Her mind kept jumping and it was hard to focus on anything. Clive followed, two steps behind her.
The stairs felt too steep.
She remembered pouring a plastic pitcher of water down them when she was a
toddler and then trying to clean up the mess before her mom found it. Her mom had
walked in to find Ainsley trying to drink the water off the floor at the bottom of the steps.
The hallway felt dark and too narrow.
She remembered standing in it, trying to spy on Santa Claus on so many Christmas
Eves, but hearing her parents downstairs instead. Her dad would call up, “Ainsley, is that you?” and she would dash back to her room.
Her room.
Right in front of them.
She turned to catch Clive leering. He looked up to her eyes and smiled, unashamed.
“This is my room – want to hang out while I freshen up?”
“Sure,” he looked disappointed, like he’d expected her to hop right into bed.
Ainsley hurried into the hallway and found her way to her parents’ master bathroom.
She looked in the mirror. Regular old Ainsley Connor stared back.
Why was she so special? She didn’t feel special.
Stick to the plan, Ainsley. You’ve got this.
Was it even going to work? Could she draw his alpha?
And if she did, could she manage not to be irrevocably bound to him?
Terror struck her as she contemplated what it would be like to really be stuck here
with him. Was she willing to risk that?
She thought about the town and the scores of men and women who had raised and
protected her. She thought of wild Cressida, and sweet Mr. MacGregor, and Carol.
She thought of Erik Jensen.
The truth was, if she had to get stuck here with someone she would want it to be Erik.
She wished he wasn’t so mad at her.
Frustrated, she met her own eyes in the mirror.
Ainsley Connor, snap out of it. You have a job to do.
She splashed a little water on her face, applied lip gloss, spritzed perfume in her hair and even removed her high heeled shoes.
Finally, she couldn’t think of anything else to do. She gave herself a smile in the
mirror, took a deep breath, and headed back to her room.
When she walked in, Clive was lying on the bed, completely naked. His head rested
back on his arms and he held her in his icy blue gaze.
Ainsley caught her breath.
He was stunning, so large and so attractive that he almost looked like a comic book
character. He had impossibly wide shoulders, enormous biceps, and just a smattering of blonde hair on the wide planes of his chest.
He reminded her of Aqua Man.
That thought made her want to giggle. But she realized, almost too late, that he
might not like for her to giggle when he was naked.
She quickly changed gears, and as a result she greeted him very solemnly.
“Hello Clive.”
“Come here.”
She stepped over to the bed and hovered by the frame, unsure whether to get in or
not.
He reached over and tugged her wrist and she found herself tumbling almost on top of
him.
She gasped. Fear and excitement mixed in her chest. Timidly, she placed on hand on
his chest. It looked like a doll’s hand on his massive torso.
“I like your dress,” he laughed. “It will look even better on the floor.”
Before she knew what to do, he had reached behind her to unzip her.
It felt wrong. She sat up quickly.
“Clive, I know we both have an idea of where this night will go, but I don’t feel ready yet.”
A look of alarm crossed his handsome features.
“Ainsley, you’ve done this before, right?”
Of course she hadn’t…OH. She looked at her hands.
“You mean have sex?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes, I have had sex before.”
“Oh, that’s good!” He looked relieved and disappointed at the same time.
She tried not to notice his expressions, and plowed on.
“But I’ve never drawn an alpha before. The whole wolf thing is new to me. And you’re
new to me too.”
“But not really,” he said, stroking her arm. “We knew each other all our lives until you moved away.”
Ainsley thought about that.
It was true, although they hadn’t spent any time together since they were kids. She
thought about the rope tree and the creek.
And Erik.
“We weren’t close though, were we?” she asked instead.
He shook his head and let his hand graze her breast instead of her arm. His heart
sped and she could feel the warmth of his skin through her dress.
“What are you doing?”
“Ainsley, we’re going to be mated. Forever. You’re mine now. Just let go, enjoy it. I’m planning to enjoy it a lot.”
“We are going to be mated,” she agreed. “Why don’t you tell me about your life? It
will be my life too, right? You can touch me while you tell me if you want,” she added.
He looked a little annoyed, but the invitation to touch placated him.
“What do you want to know?” he asked, letting his hand curve around her left breast.
“Where do you live?” Ainsley asked, trying to concentrate.
“I live in my Dad’s old house, on Drexel,” he glanced up to an
swer, then went back to her breast. He cupped it, as though he was weighing it, like a steak, then slid his thumb over her nipple.
It felt nice but Ainsley tried not to react to his touch. It was good to get him talking.
Outside, the rain finally began to fall.
“How did you decide to become a police officer?”
“I dunno’, my Dad, I guess.”
“Did he encourage you?”
“Nope, not really. But I liked the way he was. He worked hard and everyone respected
him. And the uniforms are top notch.”
“You look really handsome in yours,” she admitted.
He smiled and leaned his head against her belly. His hand moved from her breast
down to her hip.
Ainsley tried to keep her cool as he mouthed her stomach. She was not a thin woman,
but she could tell by the way he was nuzzling and nipping that he was satisfied.
“Was your dad glad you became a policeman?”
He groaned into her and then pulled back.
“Yes.”
They stared each other down. Thunder crashed outside. Ainsley broke the silence.
“What do you do in your time off?”
“I go to bars and, um, meet women. Or watch TV or listen to the radio on my back
porch.”
“Do you ever go on vacation?”
“Sure.”
“Where do you go?”
“Down the shore. Rent a place with a few guys.”
“What do you do?”
“Swim, go to bars, meet women.”
“What else should I know about you?”
He blinked at her.
“Nothing,” he finally said.
“Do you want to know anything about me?”
“I’m gonna’ find out everything about you, Ainsley, I promise. Right now the only thing I want to know about you is how to get your clothes off.”
Ainsley laughed nervously. There was sweetness in his forthright approach. But it was intimidating to be in a small room with a gigantic guy who seemed like he was getting impatient.
“Okay, Clive, I’m not sure, but I think we need to draw your alpha before we, um, do
it.”
“Oh, how do you do that?”
“I don’t know, but did you notice at the college that when we looked at each other
there was a connection and something happened?”
“Yes,” he smiled.
“Well, I think that was the beginning of it.”
“So what do we do?”
“I don’t know. I guess we could start by just looking into each other’s eyes?”
