Reluctant Heat

by Jaden Sinclair

  His hand moved between her breasts still covered by the lace bra, then down her belly to the top of her jeans. A tug on the button and he ripped them open. She flinched when his tongue touched her belly, moving up.

  “Oh, you’re going to taste good,” he said as he sat up, smiling down at her. Slowly, he began to unbutton his shirt. “Real fucking good.”

  * * * *

  “I don’t think I need to remind you to keep some wits about you,” Dominic said. “Going in blind isn’t a good idea.”

  “I have all my wits about me,” Fox answered.

  “Yeah, well the way you’re driving right now I’m second guessing that.”

  “If he’s there, Nick, he’ll hurt her bad.”

  “Lindsey’s a fighter. She won’t give in without a good fight.”

  Fox skidded to a stop in Lindsey’s driveway, parked, and shut the engine off. He opened the door and was halfway out before stopping. “That’s Ben’s truck parked up the street. The fucker’s here!” He finished his statement with a growl and felt the change inside him start.

  “Don’t do anything crazy!” Dominic started to say. “Too late,” he finished with a mumble as he noted Fox had already changed into his wolf form, and his clothes lay torn on the ground.

  A scream from inside the house had both Fox and Dominic running for the front door, only Fox was much faster at getting there. Fox busted through the front door, shattering the wood. He snarled, sniffed, and headed down the hall to Lindsey’s bedroom. Through the busted down door he saw Ben stripping Lindsey.

  Fox couldn’t say words in his changed form, but the loud growl he made was enough for Ben to stop. Ben turned his head, eyes red. Right before Fox lunged at him Ben started to change also. More hair sprouted on his face and his nose shrunk as if he was going to start to change any second.

  Ben didn’t completely change. Unable to control himself any more than he could control his anger, Fox closed his now double than normal size hands into a fist and landed as hard as he could on Ben’s face. Ben yelled, blood spurting out from his nose and onto the walls. Before he could hit him again, Ben turned and jumped out the window. Fox just about went for him, when Dominic grabbed a hold of him.

  “Don’t!” Dominic growled in his ear. “You go after him now and it’s going to get very nasty.” He gave Fox a shake. “Calm down.”

  Fox took several deep breathes, let as much of a calm come over him, and when he started to change back to his human form, Dominic let him go. He kept his back to everything as he fought with himself to keep the calm. When he did turn around, Dominic draped a blanket over Lindsey who still remained on the bed, motionless. Fox went to her, dropping down on his knees. Gently he touched her face and tucked the blanket more closely around her. Dominic patted him on the shoulder and then moved to the doorway, bringing out his cell phone.

  “Oh God, Lindsey.” Tears came to Fox’s eyes at the shape Lindsey was in.

  Her whole left side of her face had turned red, bruising and blood ran from her nose and a cut on her lip. Even her cheek began to swell and around her eye was starting to turn black and blue.

  “Lindsey,” he spoke low, gentle. “Lindsey, open your eyes.”

  A tear slipped down her cheek, “Fox,” she sighed. Where she got the strength to sit up and put her arms around his neck, he couldn’t say, but he held her close and she began to cry on his bare shoulder, ignoring the fact he was naked.

  With her jeans still on Fox had no doubt that Ben didn’t rape her, but he sure as hell tried. Bad enough the motherfucker beat her down so he could rape her.

  Lindsey held tightly to him as he walked her from the house and outside. Crying against his throat, her tears fell onto his skin.

  “I think Ben ran all the way back home,” Dominic huffed. “I got a feeling he’s going to cry to daddy and all hells going to break lose.”

  “Will you let my dad know?” Fox opened the passenger side door and slid in, still holding Lindsey tight.

  “Oh, he knows and is on his way to their place right now. Think your mother is with him.?

  Fox shook his head. If his mother was tagging along with their father then that was strictly to keep Adrian in line.

  Dominic drove fast, taking all the back roads. Darian met them along with Lyssa at the back door, both with shocked expressions. Dominic took Lindsey from Fox, only because Fox was naked and Darian handed him some clothes. When he went inside, after dressing, Darian stood at the fridge putting ice in the icepack.

  “Lyssa is helping her change,” Darian told him. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know.” He rubbed his face, the adrenaline leaving him, exhaustion settling in.

  Alex walked into the kitchen with the phone up to his ear. From the look on his face, Fox had a feeling it wouldn’t be good news. “Yeah, Dad, I know,” Alex said, nodding at Fox. “He’s here with her and I’ll make sure they stay put. Just don’t lose your head over there.” Alex hung up and sighed. “He’s pissed.”

  “He should be,” Fox stated. “Ben did a nice job on her face and once I get my hands on him I’m going to do a number on his.”

  “Fox, calm down,” Alex sighed.

  “Bullshit!” Fox pointed a finger at Alex. “He tried to rape her and he beat her. I’m not going to let that go.”

  “You didn’t.” Alex crossed his arms over his chest. “You broke his nose.”

  “Good.” Fox turned and went to the fridge. He yanked the freezer open and brought out a beer. “He’s damn lucky I didn’t break his fucking neck.” Opening it he downed the whole can, not stopping to even take a breath. Crushing it in his hand he tossed it into the trash before leaving the kitchen.

  Fox headed back up the stairs and into the bedroom, not bothering to knock. Lindsey sat on the side of the bed, her face hidden by her hands. From the way her shoulders shook she was still crying. Lyssa stood off to the side and Darian next to her. Fox gave them both a nod and they quickly left the room. Once the door closed, he went to Lindsey, squatting down at her feet.

  The nightshirt Darian gave Lindsey reached her knees. The gown was made of pale blue cotton that, even considering the circumstances, had his blood heating up.

  “Here,” he said, pulling her hand away from her face. Picking up the icepack he sat next to her and touched the bruising side with it. She flinched. “Yeah, I bet it’s pretty tender.”

  “Why’d this happen to me?” She sniffed, looking him in the eyes. “I mean, Ben doesn’t like me.”

  “Ben likes to hurt people.”

  “I saw you,” she whispered. Fox instantly tensed up. “You changed and fought him.”

  “God, Lindsey,” he sighed, rubbing his face. “I didn’t want you see me like that.”

  “Darian told me years ago about you guys, you know that,” she whispered. Fox looked up at her quickly. “I just never thought I’d see it for myself.”

  “Yeah, I keep forgetting you know more than you let on. Why did you keep coming back if you knew about us? You should’ve stayed away, then maybe you wouldn’t have gotten hurt like this.”

  She shrugged. “You’re my only friends.”

  A knock on the door had Fox nodding. He came to his feet, crossed the room, and opened it to find Alex standing there.

  “Need to talk.”

  “Linds, I’ll be back.” Fox slipped out and closed the door behind him.

  “Dad called back. Ben is claiming Lindsey is his and is making his claim.”

  “That’s bullshit!”

  Alex hissed, “Lower your damn voice. We know, but it also presents us with a new problem. If he’s claiming she’s his but doesn’t have the mark, then you can fix it by marking her yourself. Ben plans on coming here tonight to take her, after he gets his nose fixed. So you have less than an hour.”

  “Alex, that’s bullshit!” Fox couldn’t keep his anger at bay.

  “Well at the moment we are all fucked,” Alex sighed. “Our rules say nothing about a male taking
his female, even if she’s human. So right now, the only way to save her from him is to mark her yourself.”

  Fox growled, nodded and turned away, going back into the room.

  “What’s wrong?” Lindsey asked right away.

  “Lindsey, what exactly did Darian tell you about us?” He rubbed the back of his neck, thinking about the best way to tell her what needed to happen in order for her to be safe. “And I mean, as in the claiming part.”

  “Not much really,” she shrugged, holding the icepack at her face. “Think I know more now with what you told me about Lyssa. Why?”

  Fox sighed. “Well, it seems that things just got more complicated. Let me explain a bit more first. See, us males mark our females, sort of like a wedding ring for you.” She frowned. “We mark you to show others of our kind that you are taken.”

  “Yeah, you told me that already. Why you telling me this again?”

  Fox took a deep breath and though about his words carefully. “Ben’s trying to claim that you’re his and he has the right to take you.” Her mouth dropped open. “The only way I can fight him on this is by marking you for myself.”

  The color in her face, or what was left of it, drained. “Why would he do that?” she whispered.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Why would you?”

  “Because I’m not going to let him hurt you anymore.”

  She swallowed, licked her lips, and asked in a low voice, “How do you do this marking thing?”

  “Well, um...” Again, he rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. Fox felt his face heat up also. “Most of the time it happens during sex.”

  “Oh,” she barely made a sound when she spoke.

  Fox shook his head. “Lindsey I can’t let him have you. I just can’t, not after seeing what he’s done to you.”

  “So you want to do—”

  He didn’t think it was possible for her to get paler. “I just want to mark you.” For now.

  Seconds seemed to tick by. Seconds that felt like hours to him before she took a deep breath and nodded. “If it will keep Ben away from me then do it, Fox.” Tears once more filled her eyes. “I don’t want him touching me, or, or—”

  He rushed up to her quickly, pressing a finger up against her lips. “He’ll never touch you again, and if he does I swear I’ll break his neck instead of his nose.” She nodded and swallowed hard. Slowly he moved behind her and took a deep breath. “Marking is all I’m going to do.” Fox didn’t know if he said that to reassure her or him.

  Sitting behind her he wrapped one arm around her waist. Lindsey tensed in front of him and her body trembled. Fox closed his eyes and tried to calm down. A boiling need began to hit him. A need to do much, much more than just simply mark her.

  “Why are you breathing so hard?” she asked.

  Fox lowered his face into her hair, closing eyes and inhaling her scent. “I’m trying to stay under control.”

  “Come on, Fox.” She chuckled softly but it didn’t sound like humor at all. “You can’t be that attracted to me.”

  Fox picked up her long hair, settled it over to her other shoulder and brushed his lips against her exposed neck. “What if I am?” he breathed into her ear.

  Again she shivered. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea after all.”

  Lindsey made to move away, but Fox held her tight against his body. “Too late to back out now.”

  He pushed the nightshirt down off her shoulder. A low rumble left his lips before he could hold it back. Again he felt on the edge of control and sanity. The urge to touch her, feel her skin against his, became very powerful. An urge to take things all the way and never look back.

  Fox kissed her shoulder. He felt the shiver ripple through her body, moved his free hand down to her leg, feeling her skin.

  Lindsey sucked in air quickly, her hands closing around his wrist, stopping him from moving it high up to her thigh.

  “The bite can be as seductive as the whole claim can be,” he said to her low. On a moan, Fox opened his mouth and sank his teeth into her shoulder, biting her, marking her as his own.

  A sharp gasp left her lips, her head fell back on his shoulder, and Fox closed his eyes tightly with the hopes of blocking out the sweet scent of her arousal. He sucked on her shoulder and moved his hand up her leg under the nightshirt. Lindsey shook her head, the hold he had around his wrist tightened, but he couldn’t be swayed this time. If he wasn’t going to get the whole claim then he sure as shit was going to touch her.

  “Fox!” she breathed his name out in a rush just as he closed his hand over her heated pussy.

  Using only the pad of his hand he rubbed her while he sucked and nibbled on the mark he left on the shoulder. Fox couldn’t stop the moan that came from him, or fight the urge to move his other hand and cup a breast. The nipple hardened the instant he touched it and Fox teased the bud with his thumb.

  Lindsey began to move against him. She no longer stayed put and it tested Fox to the max.

  He rubbed her, moaned against her shoulder at the heat which greeted his hand and the dampness that started against her panties. His cock pressed against his jeans, reminding him in painful throbs of what he was sacrificing by not fully claiming her.

  Don’t go there, Fox! Oh fuck him he wanted her. He wanted to hold onto her shoulder, pull her panties down, and sink into her flesh. He wanted to claim her as his mate fully and he wanted to do it right now.

  “Fox, please!” Her pleading tore at him, encouraging him and he slid his hand inside her panties.

  Using only two fingers Fox rubbed up and down the heated slit. He touched her swollen clit, growled when she made a sucking of air sound and he slowly slid two fingers deep inside her.

  “Fox!” she cried out.

  His answer—a growl.

  He pumped his fingers into her. Teased her clit and fought with his own inner beast to not finish this. But a knock on the door stopped everything. Right there. His mouth came off her shoulder; she moved away so his hands dropped from her body and he distanced himself from her.

  “Yeah,” he yelled, not getting up but keeping his eyes on her.

  “We’ve got company,” Alex called back.

  “Be right there.” Fox said.

  Chapter Seven

  Fox opened the door and Darian quickly went inside, closing it behind him. Below he saw Thomas and Ben Fallen in the living room with his parents. Fox turned, walked the short hallway, and down the stairs. Each step he took he kept telling himself not to kill the bastard, at least not in his mother’s home.

  Ben Fallen had tape on his nose and two black eyes. The sight had Fox grinning for a short moment at his handy work. He went right up to Adrian, stopped, legs spread wide, arms crossed over his chest.

  “Nice look, Ben,” Fox smarted off. Ben made to lunge at him, but his father’s arm across his chest stopped him. “So what’s the problem?” he asked his father.

  Thomas Fallen smiled then, right at Fox. His slicked back hair and perfect looking suit had Fox wanting to charge the man and mess him up some. The too perfect look wasn’t doing it for the man. The cosmopolitan city look made him look out of place in this small town.

  “As I was telling your father here,” Thomas Fallen said. “We’ve come for Ms. Kimberlin.”

  Ben snarled a smile, crossing his arms also over his chest.

  “Well, I’m afraid you’re wasting your time,” Fox said. “She isn’t going anywhere.”

  Thomas Fallen kept that condescending smile of his in place. “I don’t think you understand, young man. My son is claiming her as mate. Now bring her out.”

  “And I don’t think you understand, dumbass!” Fox growled.

  “Fox!” Skyler gasped.

  “Lindsey is now my mate, so you can take your damn son’s ass out of here and fuck off!” Fox finished.

  “That’s bullshit and you know!” Ben snapped.

  “She has my mark. Deal with it,” Fox said.

  Ben lost it th
en. He charged at Fox, tackling him to the ground. They rolled, exchanged punches. Everyone else in the room started yelling. Quickly, hands grabbed and pulled them apart, but that did nothing to stop the hatred that filled Fox right then. He wanted nothing more than anything to take Ben out, once and for all.

  “This is what you call discussing it like adults?” Thomas Fallen yelled at Adrian. “Your son is nothing more than a damn animal.”

  “And your son is trying to become a rapist!” Adrian yelled back. “That girl has been beaten by your son, and I’m going to stand by Fox and say hell will freeze over before that bastard of yours gets another chance to hurt her.”

  “You have no right to interfere!” Thomas pointed a finger at Adrian and shot him a glare.

  “The mark has been made, Thomas, so once more you’re shit out of luck,” Adrian said.

  Thomas winced at that remark. “This isn’t over with. Let’s go, Ben.”

  “Good luck getting the Cabinet to side with you on this one,” Adrian said, walking behind the two as they left the house. “I’ll make sure to also let them know what he did to her and let them see it also. No way in hell he’s going to have a chance at her.” He slammed the door on them, took a deep breath, and turned to look at everyone with a smile.. “Well, that went well.”

  “That was low,” Skyler said, arms on her hips.

  “And needed,” Adrian smiled at her.

  “One day you’ve got to tell us,” Lyssa said from the second floor. “I’ve got to know.”

  Adrian snickered up at her, then gave his attention to Fox. “How is she?”

  “An emotional wreck,” Fox answered.

  “And asking for you,” Darian said, also standing on the second floor. “She’s shaking bad.”

  Fox didn’t need to be asked twice. He rushed up the stairs, past his sisters and into the room. Lindsey stood by the window, shaking, and biting on her thumb. When she turned and saw Fox her breath left her in a rush and she went to him. Instantly, he had her in his arms, and, he thought, how right and perfect she felt there.