Wild Homecoming (Dark Pines Pride Book 1)
Page 11
“Is this okay?” Summer asked.
“More than okay.”
She reached into his pants. He wasn’t wearing underwear, and she grinned at her luck. She stroked along his hardness. “You’re right,” she mused. “This is pretty incredible.”
Then she turned around and left the bedroom.
Jackson laughed behind her. “Tease! Where are you going?”
“Thirsty,” she said, trying not to giggle. “I need a glass of water before bed.”
He followed her into the kitchen and narrowed his eyes at her. Summer poured herself a glass of water and gulped it. She carefully set the glass on the counter and faced away from Jackson as she lifted her shirt over her head.
She didn’t need to turn around to know he was looking at her—she could practically feel his gaze on her skin. Next, she shimmied out of her cut-offs and stood facing the cupboards in nothing but her thong and bra. She worked one shoulder strap down, then the other, then pretended she couldn’t reach the clasp in the middle of her back.
“I think I need…a little help,” she breathed.
Jackson’s warmth was behind her suddenly, faster than she’d have thought possible, his fingers gently batting her hands out of the way so he could unclasp her bra. The lacy fabric fell forward at the same time she felt his lips on her shoulder, kissing up toward her ear.
“Feels good,” she murmured.
He gripped one of her ass cheeks with one large palm and turned her around so she was facing him. He still hadn’t buttoned his jeans, but he hadn’t taken them off all the way yet, either, and his cock poked out partway. Summer licked her lips, and Jackson groaned.
“You make me feel so good,” he said. “Summer….”
“Yeah?” All she could think about was Jackson. Having him so close to her. Having him inside of her, moving against her, moving with her. She wanted this more than anything in the world.
“I love you,” he whispered. He leaned forward and captured her lips with his.
Summer ran her hands through his hair, wanting to pull him closer. “Condom?” she asked.
“Front pocket,” he said, and she immediately started searching for it. “Other side.”
She found the square packet and pulled it open. “You came prepared.”
“Hopeful,” he admitted with a laugh, shoving his pants down to his ankles.
Summer rolled the condom over his length, then squealed as Jackson lifted her in the air and settled her ass on the cold tile counter. “This is hardly sanitary,” she said, laughing.
“Get some Clorox wipes or something,” he said. “If you’re thinking about keeping your kitchen clean, though, it means I’m not doing my job.”
“What’s your job?”
“This.” He pressed into her slowly, filling her. She gasped at the pressure building inside, the way he seemed to swell within her.
And when he started moving back and forth, the friction caused her head to fall back in delight. He took advantage of her exposed throat, nibbling, kissing, his breath heating her skin. She wrapped her legs around his waist, squeezing him tighter, feeling the flexing of his buttocks as he moved within her.
“Jackson, it won’t be long, I—”
“It’s okay, sweetheart.”
“But it’s so soon.”
His grin looked devilish in the moonlight. “We have forever. As soon as you finish, nothing’s stopping us from doing it again.”
Summer clutched his shoulders as his strokes built in speed and intensity, until her pleasure was too much and had to burst from her body. She cried out, and his mouth was there, taking her cries of bliss and transforming them into kisses. Then suddenly, he froze with his own release, spasming inside her.
“I love you, Summer,” he whispered in her ear. He caressed her shoulders and back. “I meant what I said. We have forever.”
She nudged his chin until his eyes were looking directly into hers. “I love you, too, Jackson. Forever.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“You ready to see it?” Jackson asked.
Summer’s eyes met his across the short expanse of the rental car’s interior. Those dark eyes were fathomless. He could get lost in her gaze, easy, and happily never come out.
“Of course I’m ready,” she said. “You’ve been putting me off for a week, you big jerk.”
“Well, I wanted it to look its best.”
They were parked at the driveway leading to Jackson’s old family home. He’d spent the past week clearing it out while Summer was at work. A large pile of rubble was visible from where they’d parked, and that was a bit of an eyesore, but otherwise, he hoped to get an engineer out here soon to help him gauge how much of the building was structurally intact.
“Come on,” he said, opening his door.
Summer climbed out her side. “We’re not going to drive up?”
“Nah, I want you to see it like this. Coming up to it like we’ve just gone on a walk together and we’re coming home.”
“Okay,” she said, grinning at him.
He walked backward, facing her, unable to look away from her face. He wanted to see her reaction as soon as she laid eyes on the house. Maybe she’d hate it, or maybe she’d love it. “You know it might not be salvageable,” he said.
“You might have mentioned that once or twice.” Her tone was wry.
“So if you hate it, we might have to start over anyway.”
“And if I love it, I shouldn’t get too attached. Jackson, you’re—you’re nervous, aren’t you?”
“Nooo,” he said slowly, frowning. He hadn’t thought he was nervous, exactly, just excited.
Her gaze went past him. “Whose car is that?”
“What?” He spun around, immediately standing in front of her. If some other shifter was here, hoping to lay claim to his territory, there would be blood spilled. And it certainly wouldn’t be his.
A turquoise Volkswagen Beetle was parked in front of the house. He didn’t recognize the car, but the scent of a familiar shifter reached his nose. He grabbed Summer’s hand and dragged her forward.
His sister stood in one of the doorways on the good side of the house, facing indoors. Her curly, golden brown hair caught the morning light.
“Hayley!” Jackson shouted. “You’re here!”
She turned to face him and Summer. Tears tracked down her cheeks. “It’s just like I remembered it. Except, not at all the same.”
Sobering, Jackson nodded. “Yeah. I know.”
Hayley took a deep breath and wiped her tears on her sleeve. Then she faced Summer and stuck out her hand. “Hey, I’m Hayley, Jackson’s sister.”
Summer took her hand. “I’m Summer. Jackson’s…”
Jackson laughed and wrapped his arm around her. His sister and his mate, meeting each other for the first time, brought waves of warm happiness through his body. “Around my family, you can call yourself my mate.”
Summer’s eyes widened, but she solemnly said, “I guess I’m his mate, then.”
Hayley dropped Summer’s hand and pulled her into a giant hug, making Summer go, “Oof!”
“I’m so glad to meet you,” Hayley said. “I thought it might be a woman keeping Jackson here. Especially after I saw this place, which is a wreck. Jackson, we have to rebuild.”
Jackson frowned at the house. Sure, half of it was falling down, but they might salvage…
“Jackson,” Hayley said. “Seriously. We’ll start fresh. The property’s big enough, and we can build three houses. Now that you’ve got a mate, you’ll be starting a family soon—”
“Actually, we haven’t really talked about—”
“And no way am I spending another second with Will once he finally gets here. I love both of my brothers, but Will’s a cranky old ass fart.”
Jackson laughed at the expression on Summer’s face. “You okay?” he asked her.
Summer smiled at them both. “I’m just thinking of how well I’m going to get along with Ha
yley.”
The three of them turned and faced the rest of the property, already full of ideas of where to rebuild. The Dark Pines Pride was coming home.
Preview of Wild Atonement
The Dark Pines Pride, Book Two
Chapter One
Hayley slammed down the application packet in frustration. What colleges even did paper college applications anymore? That’s right—only one. The dinky community college in Huntwood, which was probably the only place that would take someone like Hayley—a high school drop-out who’d been living off-grid for the past four years.
She hadn’t held any kind of job for more than a month. It had been nice, actually, because the kind of work she’d done had been in the way of short-term construction gigs. Jobs that allowed her to work with her hands, make things. She’d loved that, and her mountain lion had enjoyed the physical labor. She had no idea how her brother Will could handle his graphic arts job, sitting on his ass at a computer.
Teaching would be a change of pace. If she were honest with herself, she’d admit that she didn’t even want to become a teacher. It just sounded like the most responsible job possible. Teaching children, being responsible for their learning and their safety while at school. Teachers were fucking heroes, and if there was anything Hayley had ever wanted to be, at least since she was seventeen, it was a hero.
Name: Hayley Ann Jaynes
Age: February 21, 1996
Occupation:
Her pen wouldn’t move over the lines. Occupation? Hell, where should she start? She didn’t have an occupation. She had things she wanted to do, and things she felt she should do. And lots of odd jobs in the past.
The application wasn’t filling itself out, that was for sure. Hayley kept getting in her own way. Why was she doing something that she didn’t even want to do?
Her phone rang. Will’s name popped up on the screen.
“Hello, dickweed,” she answered in the sweetest voice possible.
“Language, Hayley.” His voice was stern. At twenty-nine, her brother was eight years older than her, and he seemed unable to turn off his cranky parent mode.
“Did you just call to scold me, or is there something else you’d like to say?”
His voice came out kinder. “I just miss you, wanted to say hi.”
“You could come say it in person,” she said, slyly. “I’ve got a fold-out couch now. It’s so grown-up.”
“How’s construction on your place coming along?”
“Slowly. It’s raining so we can’t work on it today.”
“Let me guess,” he said, “you’re working on applications.”
“Hell yeah. Gotta get my education.”
“Make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons.”
Fuckballs. At her twenty-first birthday celebration back in February, she’d drunkenly confessed to Will and Jackson that she didn’t actually want to teach. Damn those tequila shots to hell. Now he was constantly on her case about “following her dreams” and “believing in what’s meant to be,” which was pretty hypocritical language coming from a guy who seemed all but terrified of returning to their family’s territory.
The thought gave her the perfect change of subject. “When are you going to come out and see the houses?”
“Never.”
“Come on, Will,” she said. “Don’t be a scaredy dicknugget.”
He sputtered. “A what? Never mind. I’m not scared of shit. I’m just not going back there. Too many bad memories.”
Something in the way he spoke told her he wasn’t being entirely honest. She’d figure it out eventually.
“I gotta get back to work,” he said. “Logo design for a start-up company and they want it two weeks ago.”
“Let me guess,” she said, “they hired you yesterday?”
“You know it. Love you, sis.”
“Love you too, assface.”
“Hayley!” he said.
She chuckled, and as she ended the call, she heard him laughing, too. She returned to the college application and listed the last three jobs she’d held—unloading stock for a mom and pop grocery store, working construction on a cabin for a prepper, and landscaping for a mountain resort in Montana. That had been for the Corona Pride, who’d been happy to host the Jaynes siblings for a whole month, but their alpha hadn’t wanted them to stay too long.
Then it was back on the road.
Hayley was so fucking glad to be home, even if it meant finally sitting down and getting her ass into college.
Her phone rang again and she snatched it up, grateful for the interruption. There was no name listed, but the number was local, so she answered it.
“Is this Hayley Jaynes?” The male voice was completely unfamiliar. Maybe someone from the community college in Eliston that had turned down her application a couple weeks ago? Maybe there’d been a mistake.
Hayley quickly dropped the playful, annoyed tone she’d been using with Will and adopted something more professional. “Yes, this is she.”
The speaker didn’t say anything at first, but then she heard a quick exhale. “Hayley, so pleased to reach you at last. I’m Alec Lockman, your fiancé.”
Also by Liza Street
The Sierra Pride Series
The Sierra Pride: The Complete Series (includes Books 1-8 and “Ava and Jude”)
Fierce Wanderer
Fierce Heartbreaker (free to newsletter subscribers)
Fierce Protector
Fierce Player
Fierce Dancer
Fierce Informer
Fierce Survivor
Fierce Lover
The Corona Pride Series
The Corona Pride: The Complete Series
Savage Yearning
Savage Loss
Savage Heartache
Savage Thirst
Savage Bliss
The Dark Pines Pride Series
Wild Homecoming
Wild Atonement
Wild Reunion
The Rock Creek Clan
The Rose King
About Liza
Liza got her start in romance by sneak-reading her grandma’s paperbacks. Years later, she tried her own hand as a ghostwriter of romance and it wasn’t long before she started writing her own series. Now she divides her time between freelance editing, ghostwriting, and mountain lion shifters with fierce and savage hearts.
Website
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Acknowledgements
First off, I have to thank the awesome team of reviewers who have stuck by my side! Thank you for your honesty, your speedy reading, and your encouragement. You are true heroes to authors and readers alike! Many thanks to Tori Knightwood and Sibyl Eisley for their early feedback and brainstorming—I can’t thank you two enough! Special thanks goes out to Keira Blackwood for these awesome covers! And as always, thank you to J—you’re the alphahole to my shifter junkie. I love you.
Copyright
Wild Homecoming: The Dark Pines Pride, Book One
by Liza Street
Copyright 2017 Liza Street. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental or used fictitiously.
Table of Contents
Wild Homecoming
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Preview of Wild Atonement
Also by Liza Street
About Liza
Acknowledgements
Copyright