The Mating Game: Big Bad Wolf

by Georgette St. Clair

But then he’d taken her down to the family swimming hole and pulled her to him and kissed her.

  What did he want? What would happen if she gave in to her impulses and threw her arms around him and pulled his hard, strong body up against hers?

  She was too afraid to find out. So she was painting.

  “I am passionate about painting,” she said firmly.

  “Painting, huh? That’s what gets you excited?” There was an amused curl to his lips. “In that case, I’m going to go get all my painting supplies. Tarps, painter’s tape, foam rollers. I’d love to see what you look like when you’re passionate.” His eyes were boring into her as he said that, and there was a roguish gleam in his eye.

  She stifled a moan. So much for painting as a distraction.

  Ryker left the kitchen to go fetch the supplies, and Daisy pried the lid off a container of light-blue paint. The doorbell rang, and Daisy headed to get it, still holding the paint can.

  His mother was there, waving a newspaper in the air and looking fuming mad. Ryker’s aunt Marge was with her.

  “Um, hello?” What could possibly be upsetting Harriet to this level now?

  Harriet shoved the newspaper into her hand.

  “How could you?” she yelled at Daisy.

  “You shameless tramp!” Marge added, shaking her finger in Daisy’s face. “We made you pie! Pie!” She looked at Harriet in dismay. “You gave her your secret recipe,” she moaned.

  Daisy looked at the page that the newspaper was open to.

  She felt sick to her stomach when she saw what was there. There was an announcement of her engagement to Frasier, printed in her hometown newspaper.

  “How could you humiliate my son like that?” Harriet shouted, her face bright red with anger.

  Before Daisy could answer her, Harriet grabbed the bucket of paint from Daisy and dumped it on her head, sending blue paint cascading down her hair and face.

  Ryker came barreling out the door as Daisy spluttered in astonishment, and blinked paint from her eyes.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he shouted. “You’ve gone around the bend! I will have you committed, I swear on a stack of Bibles I will!”

  “This hussy just announced her engagement to another man.” Harriet put her hands on her hips and sniffed in disgust. “I was completely justified. She’s been two-timing you all along.”

  “She’s a two-timer,” Marge agreed, nodding. “And she has our pie recipe.” She glared at Daisy. “Give it back!”

  “Hey!” Daisy yelled. “I am not engaged to anybody! Frasier was my ex-fiancé, and I have told him a million times that I’m never taking him back. Why would I move in with Ryker if I was engaged? I am one hundred percent sure that my mother ran that announcement.”

  Harriet’s eyes went round and she quickly took a step back. “Oops?” she said.

  Marge quickly dodged behind Harriet. “I told you this was a bad idea,” she said to her sister.

  “Traitor,” Harriet growled at her.

  “You’re lucky you are my immediate family or I swear to God I’d…” Ryker’s face turned red with anger. “Off my property. Now!” he roared at them.

  They turned and scurried off.

  Ryker followed as she stomped a trail of light-blue painty footprints towards the bathroom, muttering under her breath – something about “crazy” and “overprotective” and “boundaries”. Occasionally the tracks were punctuated by a discarded piece of clothing – a dripping shirt, spattered jeans and - his breath caught and his dick hardened – a pristine pair of pale pink cotton panties.

  He hesitated before breaking his stride to scoop them up and hold them against his face. He inhaled deeply. Her unique, intimate scent pervaded his senses, setting his heart tripping in his chest as he quickened his steps.

  He was just in time to catch a quick flash of her smooth, rounded bottom as she disappeared into the bathroom, still using some very unladylike phrases. Well, that was fine. If he got his way and she didn’t throw him out of the bathroom on his butt, he had absolutely no intention of acting like a gentleman.

  The glass walls of the shower stall were already steamed up, and Daisy was a voluptuous blue-streaked blur, but Ryker watched greedily as she raised her arms to run her hands through her red hair. Her full breasts lifted, mouth-wateringly plump, and he almost groaned out loud, his cock an aching length in his jeans.

  He hastily toed off his shoes, and as Daisy turned under the spray, he wrenched open the cubicle door and, fully clothed and not caring, he stepped under the water and kissed her, hard.

  Her mouth parted on a gasp of outrage, and Ryker took advantage of the moment to slip his tongue inside, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her hard and thoroughly.

  He was shaking with need. Within moments his shirt was soaking wet and sticking to his skin, and his jeans were waterlogged. As Daisy kissed him back, she tasted of French vanilla coffee and clean, warm shower water. She wrapped her arms around his neck, going up on tiptoe to press her wet, naked body against his. Their tongues tangled as they clutched each other desperately, before breaking apart and breathing hard.

  Ryker’s hands were on the dip of her waist, and warm, faintly blue-tinted water ran over his knuckles. His gaze went lower, to the neat triangle of gingery curls between her thighs, and he shuddered with desire, then looked up at her through lashes beaded with water.

  * * * * *

  The look Ryker gave her from underneath long, sooty eyelashes set a pulse throbbing low in her body and made the petals of her pussy moisten with something slicker than the warm water that ran over them both. As she trailed her hand down Ryker’s chest, she left faint pale-blue trails on the sodden, clinging white cotton of his T-shirt. The fabric clung to his pecs, outlining the defined muscles, and through the semi-transparent fabric she could see the shadow of the narrow trail of dark hair that led tantalizingly down under the waistband of his jeans. Her mouth went dry as she took in the hard ridge of his erection trapped beneath the drenched denim.

  Then without words, they came together again, kissing, touching, clutching at each other with eager hands. Desperate to run her fingers over his smooth, hot skin, Daisy tugged at the hem of his T-shirt, and he paused in his kisses to pull it over his head and toss it onto the floor outside the shower stall. His jeans and underwear followed. He almost overbalanced as he stood on one foot and struggled to peel down the wet denim, and Daisy gave a little yelp and reached out for him. She ended up encircled by his arms, leaning against his broad, muscular chest as he steadied himself with his back against the cold tiled wall. The length of his cock was hot and hard against her soft, rounded belly, and she couldn’t help wriggling against him. The friction made him hiss in a sharp breath between his teeth, and before she knew what was happening, he ran his hands down the backs of her thighs, hooked his palms behind her knees, and effortlessly lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, locking her ankles at the small of his back as he turned and pressed her back against the tiles. The surface was cold against her skin, in contrast to the heat of his chest against her breasts, and she shivered a little in his arms even as her nipples hardened and peaked against him. With her arms around his strong neck, she clutched generous handfuls of his thick hair, gasping as she felt the head of his cock at her slick entrance.

  She was tight, but so wet that he slid inside her with a single controlled stroke, filling and stretching her as she gave a long moan of pleasure. But it wasn’t enough. She wanted – needed – to feel him thrusting inside her, hips pumping as he drove them both mindless.

  She squeezed her internal muscles hard around his cock, and smiled as he groaned and began to pump, grinding his pelvis against her and breathing hard. The whole world was the patter of the water, now starting to cool, the thrumming of their heartbeats and the frantic, syncopated gasps of their breathing. The slow throbbing waves of electricity building between her thighs as he moved inside her started to speed and intensify, and she found herself giv
ing frantic little whimpers of pleasure and need.

  Ryker was unrelenting as he thrust in and out of her wet, willing pussy, and he buried his face against her neck, grunting with each powerful, possessive motion of his hips. His fingers tightened on the backs of her thighs and she could feel him trembling as he tried to master his sensations.

  Her self-control was not as good. Sensation overwhelmed her – the rising, singing sensation in her clit, the sweet friction inside her, the tension coiled like a spring in every muscle of her body, and bliss swept over her. But it was the feeling of being Ryker’s - the memory of the predatory, possessive need in his eyes as he’d stepped into the shower stall and taken her, the sweet release of all that desperate wanting, the same want she’d seen on his face before he kissed her – that tumbled her over the edge and into the relentless spasms of a mind-blowing, spine-melting orgasm.

  Ryker made a noise that sounded almost anguished as he let himself go, his cock twitching inside her as he shuddered and thrust, pursuing every last moment of pleasure he could take from sated body.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Apparently your jacket was a big hit on social media,” Ryker said to Daisy as he pulled in to the school’s back parking lot. The main parking lot was full.

  “I guess I should join the twenty-first century and get a Twitter account, right? Not that I’d know what to twit about. Anyway, I’ll be sure to let Jasmine know,” Daisy said. “Anything to encourage her to use her powers for good.”

  “You sure you’re safe walking to the front door?” Ryker asked as he opened the door for Daisy.

  “Of course I’m safe. You think the grade school kids are going to mug me?” she asked.

  Ryker looked at a cluster of boys next to the playground, rolling on the ground fighting, then back at her.

  “I’ve got pepper spray,” she said. “And fangs, if necessary.”

  “I’ll just go break that up,” Ryker said, and loped over towards the fray.

  “See you this afternoon!” she called out, and hurried around the corner towards the school. As she passed a van with darkened windows, Frasier stepped out from behind it and blocked her path.

  The wheedling expression he’d had on his face the other day was gone. It had been replaced by cold anger and disgust.

  “Will you give it up already?” she said with annoyance. “You’re wasting your time and mine. Actually, I really only care about my time. So listen very carefully. I’m not going back to Georgia with you.”

  “Yes, you are,” Frasier snarled. A large, muscular man strode out from behind the van and stopped, uncomfortably close to Daisy. She recognized him – a pack member named Tritan, a big bully of a Beta wolf who wanted to be an Alpha. She felt a tremor of alarm ripple through her. She glanced around. Most of the kids were inside the building now, and Ryker was nowhere in sight. He was probably driving off.

  “Frasier, come on,” she said, trying to stifle her uneasiness. “I am never going to agree to marry you. I don’t love you.”

  “You think I love you?” he said, his lip curling in disgust. “I don’t even like you.”

  “Seriously? This is your big pitch?” she demanded indignantly. “Why would I want to marry a cheating dickhead who doesn’t even like me? And why the hell would you want to marry me?”

  He rolled his eyes at her stupidity. “Obviously, so our packs can combine their land, and we can give birth to a dynasty of Sheffield-Bennett cubs.”

  “Please do not say things like that right after I ate breakfast,” Daisy scoffed.

  She started to walk away, and he grabbed her arm, hard. His face briefly went furry, and his eyes glowed yellow.

  “I’m done being embarrassed by you,” he growled. “You’re coming back to Georgia with me, now. And when we get there, you’re going to learn some manners. Go ahead and shift if you want to. I’ll shift too, and my wolf is bigger than yours.”

  Tritan let out a threatening growl, and his eyes glowed yellow as if he were about to go wolf. Then he glanced over at Frankie and Paolo and Jasper, who had wandered up and were standing there staring at them, and his lip curled back in a sneer.

  “You going to make a scene?” Tritan said. “Those little boys look like they want to help you. Be a shame if they got hurt. Or you could just get in the van and come quietly.”

  Daisy froze where she stood. Would he really hurt cubs? “Don’t touch them!” she said loudly. “Boys, run!”

  “Be quiet!” Frasier hissed. “I’ll make you sorry, I swear.”

  “Jasmine!” Paolo shouted. “They’re trying to take Daisy!”

  Frasier dragged Daisy towards the van as she screamed and struggled. “Run, boys, run!” she howled.

  Then there was a blur of motion as Jasmine shot through the air in coyote form and sank her teeth into Frasier’s arm. Daisy shifted too, rippling from human to wolf in seconds, and she bit Frasier as he was halfway shifted.

  Seconds later, an enormous gray blur flew through the air. There was a heavy thud of two bodies colliding, and then Tritan was lying on the ground in wolf form, blood pouring from his flank.

  The fight was over almost instantly. Tritan rolled over on his back and waved his paws frantically in the air, exposing his belly and indicating his submission.

  Frasier did the same, and Daisy and Jasmine climbed off him and shifted back into human form.

  “My God, did you just pee yourself?” she demanded of Frasier, sniffing at the air. “You did. Gross!”

  “You were really going to marry him?” Jasmine said to Daisy, looking appalled.

  About a dozen cubs, late for school, had gathered now, and were staring at them.

  “You leave my teacher alone,” Jasper growled at Frasier. “She’s mine – you can’t have her.”

  “Mutt!” Frasier whimpered, cradling his bleeding arm.

  Jasper shrugged. “Yeah, so?”

  Ryker, still in wolf form, cuffed Frasier in the head with one mighty paw, so hard that Frasier cried out in pain and terror. Then Ryker shifted, standing over the two sniveling, bleeding men who lay at his feet.

  “You tried to take my mate. The only reason you’re not dead is that I don’t want to kill you in front of these kids,” he snarled at them. “Come near her again, and I’ll tear your head from your body.”

  Frasier and Tritan scrambled into the van, slammed the doors shut, and screeched out of the parking lot.

  “Ryker.” Daisy gasped, her breath coming in gulps. “Thank God you came. You saved my ass…pirations,” she said, glancing at the kids crowded around them. “How did you know he was here?” she asked curiously.

  “I didn’t. You forgot your lunch and I was bringing it to you,” Ryker said. He glared after the van. “I’m going to walk you to the door, and then I’m going to call your pack and tell them that if they come for you again, I’ll consider it a formal challenge.”

  * * * * *

  Thursday afternoon

  Ryker had a hot, prickly feeling itching under his skin as the secretary guided him towards Mr. Trenton’s office. Walt was keeping pace with him, looking nervous. They’d been summoned by Mr. Trenton’s assistant and told that it was urgent, but the assistant refused to say why.

  Ryker’s lip curled back in a snarl as soon as he walked into the office.

  Daisy’s mother, Phyllis Bennett, was standing there talking to Mr. Trenton, and Mr. Trenton did not look happy.

  She glanced over when Ryker walked in. “I need to speak to you in private,” she said, inclining her head at Ryker, and she turned and walked out of the room into the hallway without glancing back.

  Ryker followed her, feeling anger bubble up inside him. She turned to face him and looked him up and down as if he were a particularly nasty dog dropping that she’d just scraped off her shoe.

  “Careful, your face will freeze that way,” Ryker said with annoyance. “Oh, looks like it already did. Might want to step down the Botox a notch.”

  Anger flared in
her ice-blue eyes.

  “How much do you want?” she asked coldly.

  “Excuse you? How much do I want to stop choking on your perfume? Pretty bad,” he said.

  “No, you ignorant buffoon, how much do you want to stop pretending that you care about my daughter?”

  Ryker felt his fangs itching in his gums.

  “I care very much about your daughter,” he said. His wolf howled inside him and he forced it to stay down.

  “Obviously that’s a lie. Daisy isn’t beautiful, she isn’t flashy, and the two of you have nothing in common. So you’re with her because you think you’ll get our family money if you marry her.”

  Ryker stared at her in astonishment. Who spoke about their own daughter like that? No wonder Daisy had fled her hometown and her pack.

  “Excuse the hell out of you. Daisy is the prettiest woman that I’ve ever seen,” he snapped.

  “Riiight.” She drew the word out in a mocking drawl. “You could not possibly make her happy. She is a refined woman used to the finer things in life. You are coarse and vulgar and will bore her and offend her.”

  She’d struck a nerve there. Was Daisy miserable being with him? She didn’t seem like the type to put on that kind of act, but…anyway, it didn’t matter. Her mother got no say in what happened between him and Daisy.

  “Daisy’s having the time of her life,” he said hotly.

  She shrugged one bony shoulder. “All right, if that’s the way that you want to play it. You are wasting your time with my daughter, because she has no money. We cut Daisy off when she left home and insulted Frasier Sheffield, and she will not receive one red cent until she comes to her senses. If she were to be your mate, she would get nothing. So the smart thing to do is accept my offer. Your pack is in financial straits. My pack is prepared to invest in your company – if you tell Daisy to leave.”

  “Oh, really.”

  Her eyes lit up with malice. “So you’re interested. Good. The more viciously you break it off with her, the more we’ll pay. We want her to understand that she doesn’t have any other options besides Frasier.”