by Jodi Vaugn
“While I’m here, let me have a look at your shoulder.” Beau waved him over to the barstool.
“Nice way to change the topic.”
Beau snorted. “I have to admit, I’ve never actually seen an Assassin’s bullet before. And I’ve never heard of anyone living after they were shot with one. You must be one lucky son of a bitch.”
Braxton shook his head. He didn’t have a lucky bone in his body. He never did. “It’s not luck. I’m just cursed to keep on living.”
***
Kate lifted the trunk to her maroon SUV and began loading up her groceries. She didn’t normally buy this much when she didn’t have guests at the B&B. But judging how much Braxton had put away at the last few meals, she’d gone ahead and stocked up. He ate as much as a family of four, yet there wasn’t an ounce of fat anywhere on his body.
“Can I give you a hand with those?” A deep male voice came from behind her.
“No thanks, I’ve got it.” She turned to give the stranger a polite smile but froze. The man had to be as tall as Braxton and just as broad. Dressed in jeans and leather jacket, he wore sunglasses that obscured his eyes. She shivered as her gaze landed on a vicious scar that ran down one side of his cheek. The hair on the back of her arms stood at attention. Danger seemed to pulse off him in waves.
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?”
“I’m sure.” She turned back and quickly began tossing the white grocery bags into the SUV. She needed to get out of there.
She slammed the door shut and spread her keys between her sweaty knuckles. She saw that defense move on TV one time. If he took a step closer, she was prepared to stab him in the balls.
“I’m looking for someone who passed through here a few days ago. He’s a friend, and he didn’t meet up with me at our designated destination.” The stranger cocked his head. “Can you take a look at a photo for me?”
Cold fear ran up her back as the stranger held out a picture of Braxton. She swallowed hard and shook her head.
“I’m sorry. I’ve not seen him. Have you tried asking down at the restaurants on Main Street? They get a lot of traffic and maybe someone saw him there.” She gave him a tight smile.
The stranger held her gaze and then finally nodded. “Thanks, I’ll do that.”
She forced herself not to run and jump into her car. The last thing she needed was this stranger getting suspicious. With her heart pounding in her chest, she took her time putting the shopping cart back in the cart corral and walked back to her car. She started the engine and glanced in her rearview mirror. The stranger didn’t move but watched as she pulled away.
With shaking hands, she forced herself to take several deep breaths. As much as she needed to get home, she drove slow and took the long route home just in case the stranger got the urge to follow her.
***
Braxton frowned as he watched Kate pull around the back of the Bella Luna and park. Why wasn’t she parking in the front of the house?
He hurried out the back door, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” He opened her car door and studied her expression.
She shook her head, her face strained and pale. “Is Beau still here? Never mind. I need to get these groceries inside.”
He gathered up the groceries in both hands, leaving only a couple of bags for Kate to carry inside. “Beau left a couple hours ago.” As much as he didn’t like the vet, he was grateful for the clothes Beau had dropped off for him.
“We need to talk.” Kate went about her work of putting the groceries away, worry straining across her face, her mouth pulled into a thin line.
“About what Beau said…” Braxton forked his fingers into his hair and swallowed. He was going to have to be honest with Kate.
Kate balled up an empty plastic bag in a white-knuckle grip and turned to face him. “I was stopped in town today by some guy. He was big, like you. From the looks of him, I think he was one of you.”
“You think he was a werewolf?” His gut clenched and his fingers curled into fists as white-hot anger flooded through him “Did he hurt you?” he growled.
“No.” Her mouth fell open and she took a step back.
Crap. He’d scared her.
He kept his voice calm and forced his hands to unclench. “What did he say?”
“He said he was looking for a friend. I knew he was looking for you before he even showed me your picture.”
“Shit. He had a picture?” He went to the living room, pulled back the lace curtain with his finger and peered out. Nothing. He went to the back and scanned the back yard. Maybe she hadn’t been followed home.
“I need to know exactly what happened,” Kate pleaded.
Braxton turned to face her. The knot in his throat matched the one in his stomach. He knew she deserved the truth. After all she’d done, he at least owed her that much.
He reached out and took her hand, awed by the crackle of electricity that washed over him every time they touched. He walked over to the couch and sat, pulling her down beside him.
Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and took a deep breath. “I guess I need to start from the beginning.”
***
Kate knew that whatever he was about to say may just change her opinion of him, forever.
She saw the anguish in his gray eyes. “My father was an alcoholic. When he got drunk, he liked to hit things.”
Her heart stopped. She reached for his hand. “Did he hit you?”
“Yes.”
She squeezed his hand as she swallowed back the revulsion of such an act.
“But when I went through puberty at thirteen, things changed. It was the first time I shifted into a wolf. My father came home drunk one night and was angry that I didn’t put my bike in the garage. He hit me. It was the last time he made that mistake.”
“What did you do?”
“I shifted and beat the shit out of him.” He gave a joyless chuckle. “Surprised the hell out of both of us. I would have killed him if my mother hadn’t begged me to stop.”
Kate squeezed his hand. “I’m glad.”
He looked at her. “That I stopped?”
“No, that you beat the shit out of him.”
He stared at her for a few beats and then glanced away. “After that, he never laid another hand on me. But the beatings didn’t stop for my mother.”
“He hit your mom?” Anger stirred in the pit of her stomach. She’d never experienced domestic violence, and she couldn’t begin to fathom living in that kind of situation.
Braxton’s gaze hardened. “Yeah. After a while she stopped telling me about the beatings because she knew I’d kill him. He made sure to hit her where no one could see the bruises. I just thought he’d stopped. When I found out he was still abusing her, my mom said that she had forgiven him because she loved him. I tried to get her to leave. I told her we could leave Louisiana and go anywhere in the world she wanted. I told her she could be safe and that he’d never hurt her again.”
“But she wouldn’t leave.” Kate already knew the answer.
“No, she wouldn’t.”
“So you stayed and tried to protect her.”
“Yeah, well, that didn’t work out so well for me.”
“What happened?”
He shifted in his seat. “I told you I work in a bar.”
“Yes.”
“Well, the bar happens to be located in a strip club.”
Kate flinched, uncomfortable with the image of hot, naked strippers walking around in front of Braxton. “I see.”
“It was just a job, Kate. I didn’t go to college and a lot of places won’t hire a guy looking like me.” He held out his tattooed arms and gave her a self-effacing smile.
“People should judge others by their heart, not what’s on the outside.” Although to her, the outside looked pretty damn hot.
He brought her hand to his lips and brushed his lips against her knuckles. Her heart sped up at the touch of his warm
mouth.
“Back to what I was saying.” He kept her hand in his as he continued on. “One of the customers hit a dancer when she refused to have sex with him. I saw him when it happened and I jumped on the guy.”
“You might look tough and untouchable, but I’d bet you always try to save the damsel in distress.” Her heart tugged for her tattooed hero.
He looked away, embarrassed. “Trust me, I’m no one’s hero.”
She begged to differ.
He forked his fingers through his blue-tipped hair and shrugged. “After the fight, I was fired. On my way home, I got a phone call from my mom’s neighbor saying there was some yelling coming from my parent’s house. The neighbor was an older lady, and she knew how big an asshole my dad was. Anyway, I rode over there.”
“I didn’t really notice how quiet everything was as I was walking up the driveway. I guess because I was still going over the fight at the bar in my head and wondering where I was going to find work.
“There was blood everywhere. For a minute I thought maybe my mom had killed him in self-defense, but when she walked in a few minutes later, I realized she hadn’t done it. She screamed and asked why I killed him.”
“Oh, Braxton.” Kate went to hug him, but he held up his hands, obviously needing to finish his story.
“I told her I didn’t kill him, but she didn’t believe me. By that time, someone had heard her screams and called the cops. The police barged in, guns drawn, and my mom told them I was the killer.”
“But Braxton, you didn’t do anything. You wouldn’t have murdered your own father.”
He stood and rounded on her. “Kate, don’t fool yourself. Don’t let yourself believe that I am an honorable man. Don’t think if the opportunity had presented itself that I wouldn’t have acted on it.”
She pressed back further into the couch, both shocked and frightened at Braxton’s sudden fury. His lips curled over his gleaming white teeth and his gray eyes glinted with lightning rage. He had never looked more dangerous than he did at that moment.
She tried not to show any fear, but something must have spilled onto her face. He relaxed, backed up, and dropped his gaze to the floor.
Her heart splintered. He needed her now more than ever. Standing up, she made her way to him. She pressed her palm to his cheek and met his gaze. “I think you are far more honorable than most humans. You tried to protect your mom. You protected those girls who found themselves forced to strip because they need the money. You even protected me from Oliver Bigsby when he came to my house.” Her smile softened as she brushed her thumb across his lips.. “Braxton, I think the world is a much better place with you in it.”
***
Braxton’s chest shifted as a heaviness fell away, like ice falling from a branch after a snowstorm. Kate stared at him as if he were worth something. No one, not even his mother, had ever looked at him like that. Kate was practically a stranger, yet she could see him better than anyone else he knew.
He pulled her into his arms, her lithe body pressing into the hard plane of his own. God, she fit. She fit him like no one else. Right now, he needed her more than his next breath.
She lifted her face and he bent his head, angling his mouth across hers. Her soft warm lips slayed him, left him breathless. Right now, air was the last thing he needed.
What he needed more than anything was Kate.
***
Kate gasped and pressed deeper into Braxton’s strong embrace. The outline of his muscled abs against her sent delicious shivers through her body.
He growled. She tightened her arms around his neck, rubbing her hardened nipples against his chest and wanting to crawl up his body. Everything on the man was hard and hot. Everything.
He pulled back, his eyes dark with primal desire. “If you don’t want this, tell me now.”
He was actually asking permission to ravish her. No problem there. Ravage away.
“I want this.” Her words came out hoarse and dry. She licked her lips as her gaze drifted to his bandage. “How are you feeling?”
“Horny.” He hauled her up into his arms as if she were weightless and strode to the bedroom. “Does that answer your question?”
Kate tightened her arms around his neck and mentally said a prayer of thanks for remembering to wash her sheets that morning.
Her heart sped up as he laid her on the bed and pressed his warm body into hers. He kissed her gently, their tongues sliding against each other. The taste of him, male and hot, had her arching upward. The kiss changed, became more urgent, more forbidden, as he laced his fingers through hers, pinning her hands on either side of her head. Her eyes drifted shut as he trailed his hot mouth down to her neck. His tongue darted out and licked the sensitive spot near her ear.
“God, I love your scent. It’s so fucking sexy.”
She moaned and wrapped her legs around his lean waist, grinding against him. “Less clothes. Now.”
He chuckled and released her hands. He skirted his hands under her sweater and pulled it up and over her head. His heated gaze dipped to her pink lace-clad breasts.
“Pretty.” He trailed a finger across her bra as she struggled to catch her breath under his touch.
He ran his large hand down the valley between her breasts, setting her skin on fire.
“Braxton,” she panted as she rubbed her legs together to ease the ache.
“Easy, baby. I need to take my time, to make this last.” He scalded her with his gaze as his fingers dipped to her jeans. He unzipped and tugged her jeans off.
He eased off the bed, pulled his tight T-shirt over his head. She raised up on her elbows, unable to tear her gaze away as he divested himself of the rest of his clothing. If Braxton was hot with clothes, he was magnificent without them.
He grinned slowly as his gaze held hers. “You like what you see?”
“Oh, yeah.” Kate swallowed as her gaze dipped down to his straining erection.
His stormy eyes dilated with animal lust. He straddled her, pinning her down with his hard body. He met her gaze. Something far more intimate passed through his eyes before he bent his head and covered her mouth with his. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and loving how good he felt against her.
His dipped his head until his lips brushed against her bra-covered breasts.
“Yes.” She arched as he sucked her nipple into his mouth. His fingers fumbled with the clasp in the back for just a second before he eased her arms out and tossed the bra onto the floor with her other clothing.
His mouth was on her once again, a combination of fire and heat, as he teased her nipple, making her writhe underneath him.
“More.” She gripped his silky hair between her fingers and pressed his face against her breasts. For the first time in her life, she thought she would orgasm from just his mouth alone.
He tortured one breast with flicks from his tongue before changing direction and kissing his way to the other one.
“I want you inside me.” She panted out the words, desperate for him.
He lifted his gaze to hers as his tongue darted out to lick her nipple. “Not yet. I want to watch you come while my mouth is on you.”
He grinned wickedly and kissed his way down her body, pressing his lips against her stomach. Her heart raced. When he reached her panties, he caressed her through the lace.
She bucked against his hand.
His fingers skidded across her panties and then dipped underneath the material and into her wetness. His nostrils flared as he growled. With a swipe of his hand he ripped her panties off in one swift motion.
His eyes devoured every inch of her as if she were cake. She shifted, uncomfortable at being spread like that before him. Instinctively, she closed her legs.
“Don’t hide yourself from me, baby. I need to see all of you.”
She swallowed and let her legs fall open.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.”
Kate’s heart catapulted in her chest at his reve
rent words.
She gripped his shoulders, pulling him up for a kiss.
“Braxton, I can’t wait any longer. I want you inside me,” she panted against his mouth.
He chuckled and kissed his way down her body.
Kate gasped as his mouth covered her clit.
“Oh, my God.” She meant to push him away, but her fingers were wired to another part of her brain. She fisted her fingers in his hair and held him against her wet core as he licked her.
His tongue slid across her clit, teasing and stroking.
“Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
He sucked her sensitive clit into his mouth, gripping her hips and not letting go.
Hot pleasure flooded every inch of her body. She pulled his hair as she came, crying out his name while tremors racked her body.
***
Braxton had never tasted anything as sweet as Kate. When she called out his name with her orgasm, his chest filled with pride knowing that he’d done that to her delicious little body.
He was nowhere near done. He wanted to make her come again.
Crawling up her body, he positioned himself between her thighs, her creamy skin brushing against his legs. He almost stopped and buried his face back between her legs again. He could go down on her all day and never get enough.
Braxton looked into Kate’s liquid gaze and growled. He positioned himself against her wet entrance and pushed.
“Fuck,” Braxton murmured, pushing himself into her snug heat.
Kate moaned and tried to pull him closer.
“Wait, baby.” He froze, afraid if he moved another inch, it was going to be over too soon. She was tight, so fucking tight.
“I can’t wait.” She dug her nails into his hips, pushing him further inside until he was buried balls-deep. His scalp prickled and every muscle in his body tensed as he forced himself not to move.
“Braxton.” Her breath caressed his neck as she moaned his name.
“Feel good?” His voice came out like sandpaper and he wasn’t even sure what he’d said. All he could feel was her heat around his cock.
