“Oh.” Mary smiled. “So nice to meet you. I’m Mary, Amanda’s sister.”
“So what are you doing here? I’ve never known you to leave work.” Amanda turned toward Joyce as they all three headed back toward the living room area. “Mary owns a preschool in Cambridge.”
“That’s right. I think I knew that. You’re a friend of Laurie’s.”
“Yes.” Mary perched on a seat and took a deep breath. “I can’t stay long. I just wanted to see how you were doing and tell you what happened this morning.”
“I’m fine. What happened?”
“Some women from my church have been pulling their kids out of my preschool all week. I knew something was up. Their idea of a mini-boycott. It’s not as if five families can break me. I assumed they had a subtle message to impart. The last one came in this morning. And she casually spilled the beans.
“I had hoped it had something to do with Jazmine. Maybe people found out about us and the church was getting all high and mighty about my lifestyle.” She turned toward Joyce. “Jaz is my partner.”
Joyce nodded. “I’ve met Jazmine in town. I think I knew that too.”
“Anyway,” Mary continued, “I was wrong. Somehow the church found out about your job. They’re trying to get me to influence you to back off.”
Amanda gasped. “Seriously?” She gripped the arms of her chair so hard her knuckles turned white. “I hope you told that woman—”
Mary held up a hand and interrupted,” Believe me. I told that woman.” She smiled. “I was beyond clear. But I wanted you to know. Since you haven’t started the job yet, I don’t know how they’re so informed.”
“I know.” Amanda glanced at Joyce and then back at Mary. “There’s a kid in one of Lucy Barnhart’s classes who goes to that church. He told them.”
“How did you find that out?” Joyce asked.
“I saw him in the lobby the first day I interviewed, either by design or accident. And then I saw him yesterday when I went for my second interview. He warned me against taking the job.” She bit her lower lip and groaned. “And I didn’t tell Logan or Sawyer.”
“Why not?” Mary asked.
Joyce giggled. “Because they’re stifling her with their overprotective nature.” She looked back at Amanda. “I can’t blame you, but you need to let them know.”
“I also called Trace. He’s going to make sure the deputies keep an eye on the more prominent members of that congregation.”
“Do you think they would actually try to hurt me?” Amanda asked.
Joyce nodded. “Unfortunately, it’s possible. They weren’t subtle last year when Laurie mated. But there’s a restraining order against them. It obviously doesn’t extend to you, but they’d be idiots to step out of line right now.”
“That’s probably why they have a nineteen-year-old kid doing their dirty work. The best they can do is use him to warn you against the job and take their kids out of my school. If they start snooping around in anything illegal, some people will end up in jail,” Mary added. “Nevertheless, the sheriff is sending someone over to speak to Pastor Edmund and put the fear of God in him.” She used air quotes as she said fear of God.
Amanda laughed. “Good one.”
Mary stood. “I have to get back. I just wanted you to know all that. You’re okay?”
“I’m great.” Amanda stood and walked her sister to the door. “And don’t worry about the job. I’ll be fine. I don’t start until Monday. Maybe someone will get to the bottom of things before then.”
“Hopefully.” Mary gave Amanda another quick hug and waved at Joyce. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too, Mary.”
“What do you think?” Amanda asked after she shut the door.
Joyce sighed. “Well, I don’t have the same level of sensitivity as my mother Mimi or either of my daughters, Melinda and Laurie, but I don’t get a strong sense that these church people are a serious threat. I could be wrong. Don’t hold me to that, but my gut tells me they’re blowing hot air.”
“I like your gut.” Amanda grinned as she lowered herself back into her chair. A bunch of old people surely weren’t going to start shooting at her or something. And the kid was already sorrowful and shaking for his role.
Amanda checked the church off in her mind as a viable threat.
»»•««
Edmund leaned over his desk and set his elbows on the glossy wood surface. His wife and Florence filed in after Rachel Hanson fled his office almost in tears.
“Did Rachel make herself clear?” Ada asked as she took a seat.
Edmund smirked. “Not quite. It seems Mary Williams is a stubborn woman.”
Florence flinched. “Does that woman value her business? All we have to do is start making phone calls, and we’ll have half her clients pulling out within days.”
“And what do you propose to tell all these families to get them to blindly follow you?” Edmund asked.
Florence smiled. “That her sister has come to town with the intent to upset our entire way of life by desegregating our children and forcing them to attend the same schools with those Indians.”
“That might work,” Ada agreed.
Edmund thought for a moment. “It might. But I think we need to take a firmer immediate stance. I’m going to make a few calls and see what I can come up with.” He had an idea, and he turned toward his wife. “Ada, get Caleb Parker in here. I’ll have the boy follow Amanda again and see where she goes and who she’s with. Maybe we need to address this issue directly with Amanda—force her to see reason.”
Ada jumped up. “I’ll find him.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“You are one smokin’ hot lay. You know that, right?” Pete muttered as he nibbled along Veronica’s bottom lip and then across her cheek to her ear.
She giggled beneath him and squirmed. “You aren’t so bad yourself, Sandhouse. You got enough stamina for another round?”
He lifted his face off her pillow and glanced at the clock. “No. Dammit.” He groaned as he hauled his body off her sweet frame and sat on the edge of the bed. For a human, she could give him a run for his money. Corbin really missed out when he gave up this hot piece of ass for a white man and a mixed woman. Fool.
Veronica wasn’t a shifter, but she was at least Native. And she could suck cock like nobody he’d ever met.
She pouted, sticking out her bottom lip and batting her eyes. “You have to go already?”
“Yeah. I have a shift.”
“Anything I can do for you while you’re at work trying to be legitimate?” She giggled again as if she were a secret spy. She turned to her side to face him and leaned her cheek on one hand. Her wild dark hair hung in giant curls around her face.
Pete reached out to thread his fingers in the mass of locks and leaned down to kiss her again. She was a gem. He couldn’t ask for a better fuck partner. And when they weren’t in bed, she was always willing to do his spy work for him.
Too bad she had no idea he would never claim her permanently. She didn’t even know what he was. She was hot. She had a tight pussy. And she put out every time he asked. But she wasn’t a shifter.
Pete would never mate with a human for life. Some guys would do it. He wasn’t one of them.
A shame, really. If it weren’t for that one tiny flaw, he’d claim her sweet ass in a heartbeat.
“Mmm. You off today?”
“Yep.” She pulled herself to sitting, eager to hear what he would say next.
“Want to follow that white girl around? I’d love to know where she hangs out.”
“Amanda? The bitch who’s fucking that Masters guy and the Hamilton guy?”
“That’s the one.”
A shit-eating grin spread across her face. “Sounds like fun.”
“I don’t think she’s often alone, but if she is, you let me know where and when.”
“That’s it?” She clapped her hands together. “I can do that. How hard can it be?”
; Pete groaned as he leaned toward her for one last kiss. He could taste his come on her mouth where he’d last taken her. He didn’t mind tasting himself on her. On the contrary, it reminded him how much he liked a woman who enjoyed her sex rough and didn’t mind swallowing him as often as he requested.
With a sigh at what would never be, he hefted himself off the bed and made his way to her attached bath to shower and get ready for work.
»»•««
Amanda rolled to her side when the bed dipped and then rose. Logan’s naked frame turned around to meet her gaze. “Sorry,” he whispered. “Didn’t want to wake you.”
She shrugged. “It’s okay,” she mouthed, not wanting to wake Sawyer on her other side.
Logan leaned down and kissed her lips gently before muttering against them. “I have to lead an early hike today. Stay with Sawyer.”
She rolled her eyes. “So overprotective.”
He cupped her face with one hand. “I like my woman safe and still alive when I get back home.”
She shook her head as he released her. “Really, Logan? Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme?”
“Nope.” He sent her a glare as he left the bedroom.
Ten minutes later, he stepped out of the bathroom, returned to her side, and set a knee on the bed to lean over her again. He tugged the sheet down enough to expose her breasts and closed the gap to suck a nipple into his mouth. “Mmm. That’s what I want to remember all day,” he whispered. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” She sighed as he left the room, her damn nipple erect and needy thanks to him. In fact, the pleasure shot all the way to her pussy, leaving her wet and bothered.
Sawyer groaned as the front door snicked shut. He rolled into her and wrapped his arm around her waist to haul her back against his chest. His lips landed on her shoulder, and he inhaled deeply. “Someone’s horny.”
“You? Cause I know you’re always horny.”
He chuckled, his deep morning voice sounding gravely. His hand left her waist to trail down to her thighs. With his top leg, he nudged her knees apart and pushed her upper leg high, toward her waist.
The cool air of the room hit her open pussy as he tugged the sheet down, and then his hand landed on the inside of her lower thigh and crept upward until he reached her core. “Geez, hon. So wet. What were you dreaming?”
She squirmed as his fingers found her lips, stroked between them to gather her arousal, and then thrust into her warmth. “Not dreaming… Logan just left… He didn’t do it without making a statement.”
Sawyer chuckled again. “Sucked your nipples first, didn’t he?”
She nodded. Logan did that a lot. He liked to leave an impression when he sauntered from the room. This wasn’t the first morning he’d done so.
Sawyer kissed her shoulder and then trailed his lips up to her ear and breathed into it until she shivered. “That’s what I like. Love the way your entire body shudders when my warm breath hits your ear lobe. It’s such a simple gesture. Works every time.” He pulled his fingers out and then thrust them back in farther.
She moaned, her hand going to his forearm to either encourage him to continue or make him stop driving her wild. She didn’t know which plan she had, but it didn’t matter because Sawyer wasn’t stoppable.
Her arousal rose, and she dragged her knee higher to give him better access. She tipped her head back, elongating her neck for him to nibble.
And then she held her breath when she was so close her orgasm was imminent. She knew better than to do that in front of Sawyer, but she couldn’t help herself.
Instantly, he stopped, pulled his fingers from her channel, and flattened her onto her back.
She moaned. “God. Sawyer. Please don’t stop like that. It drives me insane.”
“I know. That’s why I do it.” He climbed between her legs and nudged them wider, a grin on his face. And then the grin fell, and he thrust his cock into her.
She whimpered and grabbed his biceps as his hands landed on both sides of her head.
“So. Tight.” He eased out and then drove back in with more force. “So. Wet.” He did it again. “So. Damn. Hot.” Again.
Her vision blurred. She loved when he fucked her like this. Hell, she loved every way he took her, but he called this hammering version of sex fucking, and it made her arousal shoot through the roof when he said it out loud.
His lips found hers. He kissed her as roughly as his cock pounded into her, driving her back to the edge in seconds. “Sawyer…” she muttered into his mouth.
“Come for me, Amanda,” he whispered as he lifted his face an inch from hers. “Come. I want to watch your expression.”
Her eyes fluttered shut, and her mouth fell open as she shattered beneath him. Her pussy gripped at his cock as wave after wave of her orgasm held him deep.
And then he shocked her. On a long groan, he pulled out, jerked one hand between their bodies, and stroked his hard length against her belly. On a sharp cry, he came, his come jutting across her flat belly in hot spurts, over and over again until he was finally spent.
Finally, he flopped down on her side, gasping for breaths. “Almost forgot to pull out. You make me lose my mind,” he muttered.
She twisted her head to face him. “Why did you want to pull out?”
He turned his face toward her and grinned. “Right. Sorry. You’re fertile.”
“What?” Her voice sounded high-pitched and squeaky.
“Ovulating.” He shrugged.
“Lord. Logan mentioned you could sense that. But I didn’t really believe him.”
“It’s true. I can smell it, hon.” He lifted onto one elbow and turned to face her.
“That’s crazy.”
“That’s life.”
She licked her suddenly dry lips. “Well, I guess I should thank you.” She narrowed her gaze. “If you even think of getting me pregnant in the near future…”
“We would never.” He reached for her face and pulled her down for a kiss.
And then his phone rang.
»»•««
“They’re going to kill you,” Laurie said into the phone. “Can’t you at least wait for one of us to come get you?”
“Nope.” Amanda rushed around the room with the cell tucked between her shoulder and her ear. She grabbed her shoes and quickly stuffed her feet into them. She wasn’t as professional as she would normally like to be to head to the campus, but Lucy had called fifteen minutes ago to say that human resources wanted to know if she could come in.
She was very apologetic, saying that she was supposed to have called Amanda the night before, but she’d gotten sidetracked and forgotten. And could she come now?
Amanda assured her it was fine, and here she was, scampering around to get ready. At least she’d had the foresight to let someone know. There was no way in hell she was going to call either Logan or Sawyer. First of all, they would have forbidden her to go, which would have infuriated her. And second of all, neither of them was in cell reach. Logan was in the mountains leading a hike, and Sawyer had gotten called to a fire.
Obviously she could have reached them telepathically, and she’d nibbled her bottom lip for about a minute while working on her makeup and pondering that idea. And then she’d decided against it. Same results would have occurred, and the reality was she wasn’t about to tell her future boss that her two boyfriends were so overprotective they wouldn’t allow her to leave the house unattended.
Lucy was well aware the grant money she had was for a job that wouldn’t be seen favorably by a lot of people, but she certainly didn’t think the woman she was hiring would be in any real danger. It would sound ridiculous to imply otherwise.
Nope. In the end, she decided it was better to ask forgiveness than permission. “I’ll be fine.”
Laurie sighed into the phone. “They’re going to kill both of us now. I’m an accomplice.”
Amanda giggled. “I’m just going to the campus to sign some papers and come right back.
It’s the middle of the morning. What can possibly happen?”
For all the hot air Amanda filled the room with spouting how absurd it was for her to be confined to the condo like she was, she did look around in every direction as she headed swiftly to her car and then locked the doors immediately before starting the engine.
Nothing suspicious appeared to be in her path.
Ten minutes later she pulled into the crowded campus parking lot and turned off the engine. There were students all around, laughing and talking with their friends.
She exited her car, locked the doors, and strode quickly toward McField Hall. Using the same entrance as before, she took the elevator and made her way to the fourth floor to meet with human resources instead of the second floor where the anthropology department was located.
When she stepped into the office, she blew out a long breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. It wasn’t as if she actually thought she was in danger. She truly believed everyone was overreacting. Instead, her fear stemmed from having her safety pounded into her for days on end and the knowledge that if she got into a bind, she’d be listening to “I told you so’s” for eternity.
She forced a smile on her face and clasped her hands at her sides as she approached the woman at the front desk. “I’m Amanda Williams.”
“Oh right. Margaret is expecting you. I’ll let her know you’re here.”
“Thank you.” Amanda turned around, but instead of sitting on one of the plush chairs, she trailed along the wall where the entrance was, taking in the enormous collection of art projects. Some of them were amazing. All of them were undoubtedly from students past and present.
“Amanda?”
She spun around when she heard her name, glad she’d opted for her favorite pink flats today. They kept her from tripping and falling in her agitated state. They also matched her pink blouse, the same one she’d worn the morning she’d first mated with Logan and Sawyer. Today, she smoothed her hands down her cream dress pants, however. The jean skirt of last Saturday wouldn’t have been appropriate.
The older woman with a tight bun smiled. “Right this way. It won’t take long. Just some paperwork and you’ll be out of here.”
Amanda's Wolves Page 26
