She was beautiful, hair tousled, eyes shining and sleepy, lips soft and kissable. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back onto his chest. “I wear underwear.” His hands skimmed her back underneath the thin T-shirt she’d worn to bed last night. He recognized it as one of his when he’d been a teenager. Granny must have dug it out of a drawer.
His hands went lower until he cupped her naked butt and his breath hitched. “You didn’t tell me you weren’t wearing any panties.” His eyes widened.
“I am wearing panties. A thong.” She giggled.
He didn’t think he could get any hotter with her sprawled on top of him, but once again, he was wrong.
With one hand on her ass and the other cupping the back of her head, he twisted his body, pinning her underneath him.
“I told you, I like to be on top.” He pressed his lips to the soft skin underneath her chin.
She gasped. He could feel her pulse racing against his mouth.
“Must be a wolf thing.” Her voice was low and breathless, just like he liked it.
“It’s a horny thing.” He grinned, his tongue darting out to lick the crook of her neck. He was rewarded when she arched her hips into his erection.
“I bet you’d like it if I was on top.” Her tongue darted out and licked the corner of his ear as she dug her fingernails into his scalp.
“Not as much as me riding you.” If he didn’t get inside her he was going to have an aneurysm. Between his legs.
“Is Granny up yet?” Sex would have to be quick, before the old lady woke up.
“I’m right here.” Granny’s voice was like a bucket of ice water being dumped on his crotch.
He scrambled for the sheet, tugging it across his naked ass.
“Get off her and let’s eat before the food gets cold.” He made sure he heard Granny’s slippers shuffling down the hall before rolling away from Ava.
Running his hand across his face, he let out a frustrated breath. Yes, he was definitely going to have an aneurysm.
She crawled over him and he caught her around the waist.
She grinned down at him. “Better be careful. I think I hear Granny coming back.”
“I don’t care. I need to taste you.” He cupped her face between his hands. When her lips rubbed against his, he was lost, floating on an emotion he never thought was possible.
When she moaned his name against his lips, his chest tightened.
He couldn’t imagine a day without her.
“Damon let go of her.” Granny’s stern voiced echoed from the doorway.
“She’s on top of me,” he said defensively.
“But, it’s your tongue in her mouth.” Granny’s slippered foot tapped against the hardwood floor, waiting for him to obey.
“Fine.” He sighed and let his arms fall to his sides.
He waited until Ava and Granny were heading into the kitchen before climbing out of bed and sliding his jeans over his erection.
***
“That was great, Granny.” Damon pushed the empty plate away.
“Thank you.” Her brittle smile attempted to hide the worry she was carrying around about Jayden. Truth be told, he was starting to get a little worried himself.
“Can I have your recipe for the pancakes, Granny?” Ava licked the last of the syrup off her fork. She looked over to the platter where there were two pancakes left, as if deciding if she wanted another one.
He smiled and pushed the platter toward her. “Take it.”
She shook her head.
“It’s just going to get thrown away,” he taunted.
Her eyes grew large. “Well, in that case, I don’t want to waste food.” She forked the remaining pancakes onto her plate and began bathing them in thick syrup.
He shook his head. He had never known a female to eat so much, yet stay so slender.
“So what’s the plan?” Granny’s hand trembled as she picked up her green-and-pink cup and took a sip of her coffee.
“I’m going to go back into town and see if Jeff has heard anything about Jayden.”
“Oh, I hope Jeff’s okay.” Ava’s fork froze halfway to her mouth.
“Why wouldn’t Jeff be okay?” Granny’s cup made a clinking sound as she set it in the saucer.
“A bunch of werewolves started acting crazy at the bar last night. Damon put himself between me and the wolves. Jeff had to bring out the shotgun in order for us to get away.
“That’s weird. Last night wasn’t a full moon.” Granny frowned at Ava.
“I’m sure Jeff’s fine. I’ll call and let you know how he is when I go by there today.” He finished his coffee and stood.
“You’re not going without me.” Ava scrambled to her feet.
“Or me.” Granny was right behind her.
He gritted his teeth, hating where this was going. “Now look . . .”
Ava stepped into his space. “No, you look. Jayden is my friend, too, and I think it would look less conspicuous if we were with you. Besides, Granny has to go by the Beaver anyway and drop off her orders.”
He opened his mouth, but Granny leveled a look so intense it made him rethink it.
Damon pinched the bridge of his nose. If he tried to stop them, they’d find a way to come. They would be in more danger without him there to protect them.
Opening his eyes, he looked between the two women. “You can both come, but on one condition.”
“Okay.”
“If you go, you both have to do exactly what I say.” Ava crumpled up her nose like she smelled something bad. “I’m serious, Ava. Do what I say or you’re not going.”
She sighed and gave him half a salute. “Okay, okay. Whatever you say.”
He gave Granny a pointed look. “You, too.”
“Boy, I’m older than…”
“Granny.” His voice, serious and low, had its affect. Granny slumped a little and nodded her head. He knew it was the best show of submission from the old lady he was going to get.
***
Damon, Ava, and Granny were all piled into Granny’s powder blue Oldsmobile. Damon drove while Granny sat up front and Ava sat in the back.
“How are we going to play this?” Granny clutched her white plastic purse in her lap while looking over at Damon. “Are we going to play good cop, bad cop?”
Ava snickered and then slapped her hand across her mouth. Though she couldn’t see his eyes, she knew Damon was doing that irritated look where his brow crinkled up. He really shouldn’t do that, or he was going to need some Botox soon.
Did wolves even get wrinkles? She mentally added that to her list of questions to ask Damon later when people weren’t suddenly disappearing.
Granny certainly had some wrinkles, but there was no telling how old the lady actually was. Yet another question she would have to ask.
“We aren’t going to play this. I’m going to do all the talking while you two sit in the car.” He turned toward Granny.
“Humph. We’ll see about that,” Granny muttered under her breath.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing.” She pointed through the front windshield. “Look, we’re here.”
Jeff’s tin building bar came into view. As Damon pulled into the parking lot, her gaze swept over the building trying to see how much damage had been done to the bar from those crazy werewolves. From the outside, she couldn’t see any signs of a fight.
The front door of the bar flew open and Jeff stepped out pushing a broom. Ava let out a relieved sigh.
Jeff seemed surprised to see them. His bushy eyebrows shot up and his mouth dropped open. Before he could say anything, Granny was rushing to his side, pulling him into a tight hug. His broom hit the sidewalk with a clack.
Ava grinned as she watched Jeff blush.
“Well, thank goodness you’re not hurt.” Granny released Jeff and took a step back, her head traveling up and down his body, looking for injuries.
“Why would I be hurt?” Jeff looked from Granny to Damon.
“You did exactly what you should have. You know the Were law. Protecting a female is top priority. Nothing supersedes that.”
Ava’s heart warmed and melted like caramel.
“How much damage did they do?” She tried to look past Jeff and into the building.
Jeff turned his head toward her, a slow grin crossing his face. “Come in and see for yourself.”
She followed behind Granny as Jeff led the way, with Damon bringing up the rear. A tingle ran down her spine, and she wondered if Damon was looking at her ass. Biting her lip, she put a little sway in her step.
He groaned.
She grinned to herself. She was right: he was watching her ass.
“Wow.” Ava followed Granny’s gaze upward. In the center of the ceiling was a sixteen-inch hole.
“Yeah. I shot a little too soon.” Jeff shrugged.
“You mean you did that?” Granny gave him an incredible look.
“They were getting a little too close to Ava. As soon as Damon got her out of here, they all calmed down.”
“Calmed down?”
“Yeah, they were all very…” Jeff rubbed the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable talking about this with Granny.
“You mean they were sexually aroused,” Granny said in a matter-of-fact shrug.
“Damn, Granny.” Jeff grimaced.
“Wait, I know I’m new to the whole Were thing. But why did that happen last night?” Ava looked at the group, but no one answered.
Damon scowled while Jeff shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“It sounds like bloodlust, Ava,” Granny said casually, as if they were talking about the weather.
Almost afraid to ask, but too curious not to, Ava opened her mouth. “What’s bloodlust?”
“It’s what happens when a male Were smells an unmated female. They are willing to fight to the death to have intercourse with her.” Granny gave her a smile.
“Sweet Jesus, she said intercourse.” Jeff scrubbed his hand down his face.
“Don’t blaspheme.” Granny narrowed her gray eyes on him. The large bar owner paled.
“I’d rather not talk about it,” Damon spat out.
“Why not?” She frowned.
“Because, it’s going to piss me off all over again.” He turned on Ava and a lick of pleasure flickered deep in her stomach at the depth of anger reflected in his eyes.
“What I don’t understand is why all the males were acting like that.” Jeff frowned, lost in concentration.
“What do you mean?” Ava dragged her gaze from Damon to Jeff.
“It’s unusual for a group of males to fight over the same female. I’ve never seen it until last night.” Jeff looked at her, his face relaxing, cocking his head to the side. “Only read about it.”
Ava and Damon turned their attention back to Jeff, who was now exchanging a knowing look with Granny.
“Where did you read about it?”
“It was a history book, a Were history book.”
“Books like that exist?” Ava arched her brow.
Jeff smiled. “Not in America. It’s kept in the Temple of Romulus.”
“In Rome.” She nodded.
“I didn’t figure you for a history buff.” Damon’s eyebrows shot up.
She smirked. “I’m used to people underestimating me, especially men.” Ava turned her attention back to Jeff. “So what did this book say?”
Jeff looked from her to Damon before he spoke. “Well, the only time it happens is when a new werewolf Queen is looking for a mate.”
She snorted. “I’m not a Queen. I’m not even sure I’m a werewolf.”
“Why would you say such a thing, dear?” Granny looked highly offended.
“I’ve never even turn…ah… shifted.” She jerked her thumb in Damon’s direction. “I didn’t even know I was a werewolf until Damon told me.”
“What’s your last name Ava?” Jeff asked.
“Renfro.” Damon volunteered.
“Actually, that’s my adopted name.”
Damon took a step closer. “What do you mean adopted name? The General is your father.”
She shook her head. “No. He’s my adopted father. My biological father died in a car accident.”
“What kind of car accident?” Jeff took a step closer.
“He ran up under an eighteen-wheeler on his way home one night. They said he was killed instantly.” She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly chilled at bringing up that painful memory. “My mother died when I was born so the General adopted me.”
Damon grabbed her by the arms, his grip uncomfortably tight. There was something urgent in his voice and the way he was staring at her that scared her. “Ava, what is your last name?”
Wrenching out of his grip, she looked from him to the others. “It’s Romanelli. Ava Romanelli.”
***
Fuck.
Romanelli was as blue-blooded as you could get when it came to werewolves.
If what Jeff was saying was true, then Ava was somehow destined to be Queen, which put a kink in any kind of future with her. She was destined for someone else, a pureblood male.
Damon’s stomach hit the floor. He actually glanced down, making sure his intestines weren’t lying out like last week’s road kill.
He looked away. He could feel Jeff and Granny’s sympathetic stares burning into him. Everyone knew he would never be with Ava.
The silence was deafening.
“Well, maybe you’re just a late bloomer. Maybe that’s why you haven’t shifted.” Granny shrugged.
“Or, maybe I’m not a werewolf. Maybe I’m just ordinary.” Her voice held a hint of disappointment. “I’ve never shifted. Surely I would have done that by now.”
“You’re a werewolf.” He turned to her. “Make no mistake. You are far from ordinary.”
“How do you know that for certain?” Her beauty took his breath away. He knew some other male would be waking up next to her every morning for the rest of his life. He also knew that male was not him.
“I can smell it on you.”
She looked up at him with eyes so green they must have been cut from emeralds. If he stood there much longer he was going to throw her over his shoulder and take her into the kitchen where he would mate her, forever binding them together. The Were Law be damned.
“Fuck it.” He stepped toward the back door. He swung, putting his fist through the sheetrock, leaving a five-inch hole. Flinging open the back door, he hurried outside, needing to put as much distance between him and Ava as possible.
He smelled her as she tracked behind him. He always smelled her. Whether in his sleep or awake, her scent haunted him.
“What’s wrong, Damon?” She put her hand on his shoulder. He flinched. Did she not understand that she was putting him through hell by her touch? Of course she didn’t. She didn’t understand any of this.
“You used to like it when I touched you.” His heart clenched at the hurt in her voice.
“That was before I knew you were a Queen.”
She snorted.
“This is serious, Ava.” He faced her.
Her expression changed, her smile gone, her eyes hardening. “I know it is and I want to know more. What does me being a ‘Queen’ have to do with us?”
He closed his eyes. “The Were Laws state that when a Queen arises, she will be mated to the strongest Alpha in the Pack.”
Ava’s lips turned upward into a devastating grin. “That would be you.”
His heart broke, shattering and splintering into a thousand shards, each cutting as they made their downward spiral into the nauseating pit that was his stomach.
He swallowed back the lump in his throat. “You don’t understand. There is already an Alpha in charge, the Pack Master.” He watched her grin slip, the blood rushing o
ut of her face.
“You are to be mated to Barrett.”
Chapter Eleven
Ava’s knees buckled. Damon’s strong arms came around her, keeping her upright, preventing her from performing a face plant.
“Jesus, Ava. Are you all right?” His voice was warm against her ear and for a few precious seconds she let him take the weight of her body and the weight of the world off her shoulders.
She sucked in a breath
“I’m okay.” She tried to keep her voice light as she chuckled weakly. “It’s not every day that you find out fate has picked out a husband for you.”
Damon’s face grew stoic, that mask of indifference he always tried to wear. But Ava knew better. His emotions ran a lot deeper than anyone knew.
“Barrett is a good leader.” Damon didn’t bother looking at her when he spoke.
Hot liquid anger raced through her veins. She shoved him away. “So you’re telling me I don’t get a say in this? That I don’t get to choose who I want to spend my life with.” Her face heated.
He stood perfectly still, the muscle in his cheek working furiously.
“What if I told you I had already chosen a mate?” She crossed her arms.
His head jerked up, pure rage burning in his eyes. “Who?”
Some of the anger melted away. Did he really not know that she loved him? Of course he didn’t. She’d never told him. He’d probably never heard those words in his whole life. She stepped closer and placed her hand on his chest.
“You.”
His eyes widened with surprise. He pulled her against his hard body. She lifted her mouth to his, feeling his breath coming in hard pants. She closed her eyes, waiting for that moment when he would take her mouth.
But he didn’t.
He grabbed her wrists and pushed her away. She tried to step closer, but he held her at arm’s length.
“Don’t say that.”
“Don’t say what? That I want to be with you?” She stopped struggling and looked into his eyes. “It’s the truth.”
They stood in silence, eternity thrust between them. He released his grip and let his hands fall to his side. “Barrett is a good leader.”
“You already said that.” She growled. God help her, she actually growled. And judging by the growing bulge she saw in his pants, he liked it. “I will not marry or mate someone I don’t even know.”
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