by Elsa Jade
Murmurs started, and Bella kept her focus locked on the big man behind the bar. Every jump and every jerk of tensed muscles was visible under his skin. She arched her own eyebrow in challenge and waited.
His gaze never leaving her, he started mixing a drink. When he finished, he put it on the table and stepped back.
A fruity-looking drink, the kind only she would drink in a dive like this.
Asshole.
She was going to enjoy working him over tonight. Might even make him cry.
A goal was always a good thing.
Bella cleared her throat. “Drive safe, guys. A couple friends from my old high school gang said they might be here tonight, so I’ll hang around for a bit longer.”
Sam’s mouth parted, surprise shaping his features. Nothing had been promised about tonight or about them in general, but it would be a lie to say she’d been completely innocent in her actions with him. Still, he took it with good humor. “I’ll see you Monday, Doctor.”
“And you, Doctor.”
When her friends left, she went to the pool table, starting playing a game by herself, and waited.
Chapter Four
‡
All good, going home.
Steel’s text came right at the ten-minute mark and only a couple minutes after Bella had issued her challenge, and damn, why couldn’t there be trouble? Anything to get Iron out of the bar and away from temptation personified.
He’d known this day would come. Hell, the only surprise was Bella let it go so long. She was a firecracker, in charge of her life, and like hell any man would dictate her timetable. He learned that the Monday after prom, when Billy Marconi was bragging about fucking her afterwards. Before he could beat the shit out of Billy, she marched over to Iron, yelled that if he’d gotten his head out of his ass and asked her to prom he’d have been the one who’d gotten underneath her skirts, but he hadn’t so he needed to quit posturing and shut the hell up.
Then she turned and kneed Billy in the balls so hard that even Iron winced in sympathy for the guy.
It was the fucking hottest thing he’d ever seen in his life, until tonight, when she looked at him with those gorgeous chocolate eyes and told him to grow some balls and fuck her.
He was going to mate with Laura. He hadn’t asked yet, only hinted it being a possibility, but Laura knew he was going to, just as she knew he didn’t love her, and probably knew Bella was his true mate. Laura might be human, but anyone familiar with the pack would know what Iron’s actions around Bella meant, and Laura had grown up knowing about the pack.
That wouldn’t stop Laura from mating him. She didn’t love him either, but they liked each other well enough, both of them wanting pups, both of them happy with the pack and their place within it.
They’d be good together, happy in a low-key, content way. No, he wouldn’t be with his true mate, but he’d already saw what happened when a wolf took a true mate who didn’t belong in their world.
He slammed the door shut on those memories. Not going to happen. He already lived through that shit once. Didn’t need to relive it now.
Bella stretched, her back a graceful arch and that ass round and begging to be cupped.
Still time. Still a few weeks before you have to mate Laura. Still a chance to experience Bella, sink into that delicious body that’s haunted you for years…
Iron didn’t have a devil on his shoulder. He had a whole army crawling over him, whispering in his ear, reminding him of almost twenty years of fantasies that starred the woman in front of him. Begging him not to lose this one chance to taste her, to hold her down and sink into her, to experience her underneath him.
Which would be worse? Not knowing what she tasted like? Or tasting her and then walking away?
Sam… The growl issuing from his throat caused two bar patrons to startle on their stools, grab their beers and leave post-haste for a table. Iron closed his eyes, both to shield the glow that was doubtless visible as well as to block the sight of Sam leaning close to Bella, not quite whispering in her ear, but his body language making it clear to anyone looking that this man was very interested in this woman.
Why the fuck wouldn’t he be? The only men who wouldn’t be interested in Bella would have to be gay or near enough, the ones who only liked those skin-and-bones girls. As for Iron, he fucking howled the first time he saw Bella in a bikini, the only time he lost it around those not pack, and Steel tackled him to stop him from going full wolf and flat-out scenting her in public.
How the fuck could he be blamed though? Showing that belly without giving a fuck about what anyone thought of the fact it was large and curved, not flat and ridged. Those fucking delicious, large breasts, gorgeously tan and only just covered by red fabric. Then that ass, that ass, and it wasn’t a thong but it was the next closest thing, and if she bent over…
Iron leaned over until his forehead hit the bar, breathing through his nose and willing his dick to go down. Fucking stupid, why the fuck had he let his mind go down this path? Stupid asshole.
Sam laughing, and that wilted his dick in a hurry. He glanced up to find Sam’s hand curled around Bella’s arm, and Iron wanted to tear that arm off and beat the man to death with it.
Sam was what Bella deserved, what she worked for. Mrs. Jenkins asked in first grade what they wanted to be when they grew up, and Bella stood, her spine straight as it always would be throughout her life, and with her head held high said, “I’m going to be a doctor.”
Other kids laughed because they were all poor trash, and trash didn’t go to college, didn’t become doctors, didn’t do anything with their lives…but not him, because he saw it in her. Fuck yeah, she was going to be a doctor, and she’d make sure everyone else would kiss her ass if they tried to stop her.
That’s when he fell in love with her.
True mates. Mating Season. All that would come later. It didn’t have shit to do with that moment. Six years old, and he knew he was looking at the girl he’d love forever.
And he had. And he did. And he always would.
He always would…
Yeah, he always would love sweet, stubborn, spitfire Isabella Santiago. Fuck whatever was out there that had him true mates with a woman he’d never be able to have, but it didn’t change that he loved her.
Sleeping with her or not sleeping with her had nothing to do with that. The loss, the longing would have a slightly different flavor depending on which path he chose, but nothing would stop the fact that he would always miss her, an ache that would never leave.
So if he was going to miss her, if he was going to mourn her, then fuck it, he’d take this last chance to love her, to taste her, to experience the one thing he’d regretted they’d never shared.
So when her friends started making noises about leaving, when they began giving her subtle nudges about Sam, when Bella looked back at him to see his decision.
He placed a drink for her on the bar.
And he waited.
Chapter Five
‡
“Everyone get the fuck out now.”
It was fifteen minutes to closing, and Iron had lost his goddamn mind thirty minutes back. He didn’t give a fuck if another customer ever walked through those doors. These assholes needed to leave.
The regulars grabbed their jackets and ran, throwing bills on the tables and not looking back. A group of what appeared to be college kids looked at the clock like they were going to say something, but the one kid who took a step forward immediately started backpedaling, shaking his head at the half-asked questions from the rest of the group, grabbing onto a couple of the other guys arms to pull them out of the bar.
All the while Bella shot pool, looking as composed and serene as a goddamn queen on her throne.
His eyes never left her. Not while he waited for the last idiot to leave. Not while he locked up. Not while he walked over to the tables.
Bella sank another shot before turning to hop onto the table, legs dangling and cue stick sti
ll in hand. “So…it seems we’re alone. Want to play a game?”
“Not pool.” There were so many other games to play, and he wasn’t going to waste a moment of this gift from heaven.
“But you like games?”
“Tell me what you want, baby.” The endearment slipped out, the term what he always called her in his head though he’d never said it aloud before, and inside his head was a hesitation, a warning, not to give too much, to leave something safe to cling to in the future.
Fuck it. Fuck it. He didn’t do shit half-assed. He was going to gorge himself on her, make real every fantasy she had starred in, and fuck the consequences. “Tell me what you like, fucking beautiful Bella. I want to play with you.”
That gorgeous mouth turned up in a smirk, the expression of a woman well and sure she’d won, and she ran her hand up and down the pool cue in a deliberate mimic of a hand job. Her voice was soft, faux innocent, when she spoke. “I’m a good girl, and I was always told good girls don’t play with bad boys like you, Iron.”
He leaned down, his arms bracketing her with his hands resting on the pool table. “I like that you’re a good girl. Makes me want to take real good care of you, I promise. Besides, you like learning new things, don’t you? I can teach you.”
“Teach me what?” Fuck, that throaty voice was perfect with its hint of curiosity, but the look in her eyes was pure woman in charge.
Brushing his nose against hers, he whispered. “How about we start with kissing? You want to do that, don’t you?”
Bella’s answer was lifting her lips to cover the scant inch that separated her from him, pressing against him with soft intent.
Iron was going to fuck her hard. He was going to hold her down and work her body under his until she hurt from coming so much. All of that was in the future.
This moment, this first, real moment, this one moment forever ingrained in his heart until the day he died…
It was softness. It was adoration. It was his soul meeting hers, twining about it in final claiming, the last step of a dance that started years and years ago. A little boy holding out his hand and helping a little girl out of the dirt. It was the sunshine of that day, the long-remembered scent of wildflowers, the burst of color they ran through on short, chubby legs.
My Bella…
He pulled back. Her eyes carried a sheen of tears, all trace of playing gone.
The haze surrounding his head, his heart, flitted, dissipated. This was one final moment he could cherish before he let her go to have her perfect, wonderful life, the life she deserved and would never get with him.
He wouldn’t chain her. He wouldn’t hide her away. His beautiful Bella deserved to be in the sunshine and showered with adoration, not always on guard and tucked into the shadows.
She deserved better than becoming a wolf and becoming his mate, and Iron would slay all enemies to make sure she remained free – including himself.
This…was good-bye.
Iron crushed his mouth to hers, opening her to his assault, and her moan had his head spinning. It was a hard exchange, tongues tangling together with her scent strengthening with every moment, that glorious musky scent that punched him in the gut, had him dueling the desire to breathe deeper and to delve straight for the source.
He pressed her body tight against him, her breasts a soft weight against his chest but her nipples pebbled hard enough to poke him.
She hmmd, a deep throaty sound that kicked him in the gut. Her mouth was a feast and he was going to taste every inch of it.
Except that wasn’t Bella’s plan, as she shoved against him, separating their bodies and looking up at him through her eyelashes, the tease clear. Another push as he stepped closer, and she caught her lower lip between her teeth – hell yeah, totally practiced, but still hot as fuck.
In a torturously slow movement, Bella’s legs began a slow spread. Her pants were skin-tight, and fucking yeah, every detail of what was waiting for him, almost as good as naked. The cue stick was placed between those legs, that lip was still between those teeth, and damn if this wasn’t the beginning of the world’s best porno. “So what games are we going to play?”
He had a recurring fantasy about once a month of being able to bend her over one of those pool tables, but now that it was a possibility, nah. He wanted a bed. He wanted to spread her out in any position he chose, and then fuck her so hard they broke the headboard. “Get your coat. We’re getting out of here.”
*
“I could give you head.”
The car gave a small jerk, and Bella reveled in smug satisfaction as Iron gave her a mock glare from the corner of his eye. He was too easy to tease. It was nice to see him so off his game, all because of her.
They were only a few minutes from his home, where Bella hadn’t been in years, not since they were in high school. Then it had been his father’s home, and it would be interesting to see what changes would mark it now that it was his.
Giddiness coursed through her, and she was about two seconds away from bouncing in her seat like a three-year-old. This was real, after all the years of daydreaming and pining. Nothing had been said about permanent – and knowing Iron, he was thinking this was a one-time thing, poor delusional soul – but, stupid as it sounded, she was taking the first steps into her life and she couldn’t contain the happiness the knowledge gave her.
Hence, the offer to suck him off. Might as well make those first steps memorable.
In moments, they pulled up in front of Iron’s two-story home. It was too dark to make out much more than the general structure, but from the dim light of the floodlights the yard and railings leading up to the porch looked to be well-maintained and the front door had been painted recently.
Inside, the place was a mix of old and new. Iron had gotten rid of the overabundance of floral motif she remembered, choosing cleaner lines and darker fabrics, but no interior designer would ever call the place modern, wood and natural materials dominated, and there were several pictures and other homey touches splashed around.
Later, she’d explore his house, search every crack and crevice, but right now?
Bed.
She tilted her head, placed her hand on her hip, and thrust out her chest in a well-choreographed dance designed to make a man’s eye follow. “We taking this somewhere comfortable?”
The man was fighting a smile as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Isn’t this treating me like a piece of meat? Shouldn’t we talk first? Me compliment you on how pretty you look?”
“Don’t even fuck with me, Iron. Bed now.”
“Bossy little thing, ain’t you?”
Answering verbally took too much time. Instead she grabbed his pants and tore at the zipper, shaking fingers making the job harder than it should have been.
“You’re going to hurt the merchandise.” No man had a right to sound that composed when he was looking at a night of hot sex. Time to shake him up.
Putting her hands up in surrender, she took a few steps back. “My apologies. I didn’t know I was so scary, putting you off and all. Tell you what, I’m going to go upstairs while you resign yourself to what’s about to happen.” She began the ascent up the stairs, ignoring his little growl and throwing over her shoulder, “You have toys? I can use my fingers, but I’d like something a little extra tonight. Maybe we should have gone to my house, but oh well.”
And though he’d likely deny it ’til his dying day, he squeaked and asked, “Toys?”
Oh, he liked that, did he? That would teach him to mess with her. She looked down at him. Iron was at the bottom of the stairs, watching her, and his eyes looked pure black right now, the pupils were blown so wide. “You want to see that, baby? See me spread my legs and push a fat dildo up my little pussy, stroking it in and out like you want your cock to be doing? Or–” and she paused at the top of the stairs, bending just a bit forward and trailing her hands over the fat globes of her ass, which guaranteed Iron would be watching, since he never could keep his ey
es from her ass. “–Do you want to see me with my little anal vibrator, pushing it up right–” Bella trailed her middle finger down the crack of the jeans, the tip of her middle finger coming to rest over her asshole. “–here.”
Iron played football in high school, and she still never saw him move as fast as he did that moment, taking the stairs like they didn’t exist and wrapping his arms around her to pull her towards the bedroom. The only vocalizations from him were a litany of growls, his fingers flexing against her in unconscious action.
His bed was big and covered in a blue blanket, and that was as far as her seeing it went before she was spun around, his mouth hard on hers. Nothing tentative here. He forced his way in, plundering her mouth with long swipes and low growls.
Cool air against her skin flicked at Bella’s senses, but it wasn’t until Iron pulled back that realization struck. Cold skin meant no clothes, and a glance down confirmed her shirt was gone and Iron was already working on her pants. When did that happen?
Then her back hit the bed, her jeans were yanked off, and Iron’s face went taut as his eyes roamed over her.
Bella stretched her hands over her head, arching her back and presenting herself as an offering. Her underwear was red and lacy and she’d worn it for just this moment.
If he thought she hadn’t noticed his reaction to her red bikini, he really was oblivious. The tristate area noticed that reaction.
“Turn over.” His voice was as raw as if he’d gargled with glass. She did, rewarded in only moments with a broken gasp. One step removed from a thong, and yeah, she knew exactly what her man liked on her. Bella folded her arms and laid her head on them, and waited for what was next.
Tentative hands, calloused and warm, brushed over her skin, a feather stroke of delight. They traced every curve, every dip, with the gentle sureness of someone granted their greatest wish. As much as she loved those touches, she preferred what came next, when the tentativeness disappeared and pure want took over.
