by Cecilia Lane
But he only grinned against her skin and nipped at her earlobe.
"I’m not good for you, Faith." He insisted between kisses across her jaw.
Heat rolled through her with his every touch. Tease, that’s what he was. With his words and with his lips. She chased him, tried to draw him back in, but he switched direction and brushed his lips down her neck. "Don’t care," she huffed. "I want you."
With a growl, he dragged her shirt over her head, and she pushed his up and off just as quickly. Their lips clashed and skilled fingers reached behind her back to unsnap her bra. She pushed away from him enough to fling the stupid thing to the ground with the rest of their clothes.
He took advantage of the space and slid his hands up her hips and stomach to cup her breasts. Faith moaned into his mouth when his fingers found her nipples. The barest of grazes and they drew up into hard peaks.
“So sensitive,” Tommy murmured against her mouth, continuing to smooth and stroke and tease at his leisure.
She pressed her hand to the bulge in his jeans, gripping him hard and rubbing him through the material. Almost instantly, his eyes dropped half closed and he let out a short, agonized sound.
“Who’s sensitive now?” she whispered against his neck. His pulse thudded just under the skin and she timed her rubs and squeezes to the beat of his heart.
Between one blink and the next, Tommy whirled her around and pressed her palms against the wall. His mouth found her skin, nipping and kissing in turn and setting fire to everything she’d ever known.
His hot breath fanned the back of her neck. A shiver worked its way down her spine and raised gooseflesh along her arms. Pure power radiated off him. He was big. He was dominant. He could take whatever he wanted right then and she would have zero objections.
He popped the button on her jeans and ripped the zipper down. His fingers brushed over her stomach and down into her panties. The denim cupped him closer and ground him harder against her.
One finger turned to two and dragged a gasp from Faith’s lips. He pumped into her twice, then circled her clit softly. Slowly. Enough to make her nearly dance under him in frustration before he finally sank into her wet heat again.
She dragged her hand down to his. Her fingers cupped his, feeling him tease and plunge into her in turn. She pressed harder on him on his next slow assault of her body and pushed him deep inside.
He nipped her earlobe. “That’s it, sugar. Show me what you like.”
The deep, growly tone dumped another heap of desire into the mix. She pushed back against him, grinding against the bulge resting against her ass. Oh, his hips jerked. He didn’t have nearly as much control as he wanted her to believe. He wanted her just as badly as she wanted him.
She wanted to break that last bit of control. Have it snap and feel him power into her.
Her locked arm buckled and she dropped to her elbow. Faith arched her back, rolling her hips against Tommy and urging more from him with a whimper. She wasn’t going to last long.
His free hand pushed her jeans off her hips, and she kicked them off the rest of the way. She nearly vibrated with need, but he crowded her back against the wall. He was in control. He would decide when and what they would do next.
“Want to fuck you so bad, Faith. Need to feel you come first.”
His words added to the boil of pleasure he already built inside her. She panted at his touch and threw her head back against his shoulder. His hips continued to thrust against her, his abs flexed against her back. He was pressing against her everywhere, claiming all parts of her body at once.
The pressure felt too good. She was pushed steadily toward the edge, right where he wanted her.
Teeth nipped at her skin and sent her soaring through desperation and headlong into bliss. Faith moaned out his name as she clamped down on his fingers.
The jingle of his belt was followed by the soft thump of his jeans hitting the floor. He kicked her legs wider and then he was there. The thick length of his cock brushed through her folds as he coated himself in her cream.
He slipped into her just a fraction. Just enough for her to feel how big he was. That first inch parted her with a soft burn. He’d prepared her and she was ready, but oh holy night, he was huge. And she wanted.
He slammed into her hard enough to make her gasp. So deep. So thick. Faith hissed when he pulled back, nerves rasping delightfully up his cock.
“More,” she groaned.
Tommy bucked into her harder than before. He wrapped her hair around his hand and tugged her head to the side. Biting kisses dusted across her skin until he claimed her mouth once again. He thrust into her mouth to the same tune as his hips jerked and she met both with equal abandonment.
“More, sugar? You want more?” he asked when he finally broke away.
Her vision wavered and her pulse skittered in her chest. Excitement pounded in her veins. Her fox lurked just below the surface of her skin. More, more, more, the little vixen chanted, and Faith knew what the animal wanted.
Tommy, and his mark on her skin.
Too soon. They were navigating treacherous waters still. One night together, that’s all this could be. She had to know for sure before she took that final plunge.
Tommy let go of her hair, but they still exchanged breath. Kiss, bite, pant. The world reduced down to single words and utter pleasure.
Faith bowed her back and pushed against him when he reached around and found her nipple again. He grazed her skin with his thumb, then rolled her pebbled flesh between his fingers.
He was close. His chest heaved and his thrusts lost that perfect rhythm. A glint of madness had entered his eyes when she dared glance at him over her shoulder. Perfect, that was what he was. Perfect, big, bad wolf.
Pleasure burned through her core and settled hotly in her middle. Tommy slipped his hand further south, no longer caressing her skin as he had before. Need entered the picture. He needed her release before he found his own.
He circled her clit again and she detonated around him. She pulsed around his throbbing dick, their releases matching and echoing and lining up just to keep the aftershocks flowing. There was no hard end to what they had, nor a soft floating to earth. Pleasure stretched on for eternity.
Tommy pressed his forehead against her back and clung to her for a long moment. She didn’t need words or soft kisses to know what was running through his mind.
How could something be so perfect, so fast?
Chapter 8
"Earth to Faith. Come in, Faith."
Faith shook herself and glanced at her sister. Something hot splashed her fingers and she jerked fully back to reality, setting the canister of frothed milk unsteadily on the counter. "Holly and mistletoe," she cursed, then blushed. Tommy held mistletoe over their heads before they...
"Faith!" Becca laughed.
"Sorry!" She hurriedly wiped up the mess she made and set a lid over her cup. She couldn’t be trusted with open containers. Probably knives, either. She just needed to crawl back into bed and let Becca run the shop.
Mmm, bed sounded excellent. Especially if she stayed curled up next to a certain wolf with wandering hands.
"If I’d known he could do this to a girl, I’d have snatched him up the moment he was single."
A low growl entered the air and Faith clamped a hand over her mouth. Down, fox.
"Hypothetically, of course. Advice you should have taken. No interest here." Becca raised her hands, but her eyes still sparkled with a laugh. Her eyes narrowed, and she focused on the windows lining the street. "Old boars incoming."
They both pasted on smiles of varying degrees. Faith elbowed her sister after a quick glance revealed a grimace on Becca’s face. She pretended to clear her throat and turned to pull bagels from the case.
Old Miss paused halfway through her usual saunter toward her usual table. She nodded to her friends, and they continued to make their march through the shop, then settled noisily into their seats. Eyes turned and Faith had the f
eeling that the stage had been set.
Old Miss approached the counter and took her time tugging papers out of her large purse. When she finally had them in hand, she leaned forward conspiratorially. “I have in my hands proof that Tommy Conri is trying to destroy your business.”
Faith stared at her for a long moment. She could hardly believe her ears. She and her two colleagues in gossip were the masterminds behind the entire ridiculous food shop rivalry in the first place. And now, after all the rumors that’d been whipped up, now she had proof it was real? So very conveniently after they’d gotten closer?
She was going to bake ten thousand batches of those maple bacon cupcakes and definitely leave them scattered around the woman’s house to keep her locked inside.
"What is it, then? I don’t believe he’d do that," she said.
“Bearden folk need to stick together,” Old Miss sniffed. She cast a look toward the other two Old Maids watching like hawks. "We just don’t want to see you get hurt."
"Tommy is Bearden folk. He owns a diner here, he’s lived here for ages." Faith wanted to rub her temples. The rivalry was already out of hand. Just because their made up soap opera was vanishing before their eyes didn’t mean they needed to fabricate trouble.
Old Miss clicked her tongue in annoyance. “You were born here, honey. He’s from Wolfden originally. You can’t trust one of those.”
She dramatically unfolded a bundle of papers and smoothed them out on the counter. Only when every last wrinkle had disappeared, and the pages lay flat, did she turn them around for Faith to read.
Faith’s fake smile slipped. She scanned the words on the papers over and over, flipping occasionally. She knew the documents from her own dealings when leasing the building. It was a generous bid to buy her out of her lease.
Faith flicked her eyes across the street. It couldn’t be. Could it? All his jokes about forcing her out of business, the late night talk of what they wanted to do with their places… He had his eye set on expanding his diner, and she’d told him her plans for redecorating after the holidays with props to create police station mug shots and a place for them to hang.
"Can I hold on to these?" she asked quietly.
Old Miss nodded emphatically. "They’re just copies. Of course, you can keep them. You put him in his place, child. Don’t let him get away with trying to do you wrong."
Faith just heard buzzing in the place of words. She fixed her eyes on Tommy’s Diner and tried to ignore the bile rising in her stomach.
"Becca, watch the shop," she called over her shoulder.
She pushed open her door just as someone else tugged it open. The face she saw there made her want to growl.
"Just the girl I wanted to see," Shana nearly purred.
“I don’t have time for this right now, Shana.” Not when she needed to march across the street and demand answers from the man who tried to put a bid on her building and force her out of business.
“What?” Shana asked innocently, going so far as to raise her hand to her heart. “I don’t want to add to your plate. I’m just trying to pass along some information.”
“Please either place an order or leave.” Faith jerked her chin back to the counter where Becca watched with worry on her face.
Shana didn’t move or drop her voice. Anyone passing by the coffee shop and anyone inside could hear her words. “I saw you two last night. You should really keep your curtains closed.”
Mortified, Faith turned to the other woman. “You had no right to be snooping around my house.”
“I had every right. You were with my mate.”
A low growl rattled in her chest. Oh, her fox did not want to hear those words. The little animal didn’t want to hear even the implication. The she-wolf had no claim to Tommy. She’d chosen and no one else could have him.
With the little fox chattering away and wanting to tear into some ankles, Faith straightened her shoulders and stared Shana down. She wouldn’t let the woman see any sign of discomfort. She couldn’t let her see the doubts seeping out of her ears. “You will leave. Now.”
If he’d been planning to push her out of business, what else had he concealed? Tommy always was the aloof, mysterious wolf.
Shana cast her a toothy smile. “You have zero control over where I go, baby girl.”
“I have every bit of control over you staying in my shop. Leave me alone. Don’t come to my home, don’t come into my coffee shop. Go play your baby games with someone else.”
“He’s mine. Don’t you forget that.”
“Maybe you should have kept that in mind before you cast him aside so easily. He’s not yours anymore. Maybe he never was yours. Maybe he was waiting for me all along.”
Shana tugged down the collar of her shirt. There, ringing her collarbone, was a jagged scar. "Think again, sugar."
Faith snarled at her. Her ugly, green jealousy from the night before returned and tripled inside her. He’d been with her. He’d said he wanted her. All when he’d marked and mated another?
Becca was suddenly there, hands pushing between her and Shana. Good thing, too. Her nails had blackened with the beginnings of claws. The she-wolf needed some new scratches where her eyes were grinning in triumph.
"Hey. Hey! No brawling in the shop. First rule, isn’t it?" Becca hissed and pushed her back. She spared Shana a single word. "Out."
A firm hand on her shoulder shoved her behind the counter and into the employee only area. Becca crossed her arms over her chest and stared her down, blocking the double doors. "She has to be lying."
"How do you know? She didn’t smell like a lie." That’d been the worst part. Shana’s words rang of truth. There was little hiding anything from shifters when they had built-in lie detectors. Shana believed her words.
"Because I’ve watched you two make moon eyes out your windows all morning. A man doesn’t look like that unless he’s feeling something for you."
"Or he was just checking to make sure his mate and his side piece didn’t interact." Faith waved the papers under her sister’s nose. "And then there are these. He was trying to buy out my lease!"
"Plus," Becca went on as if Faith hadn’t interrupted, "the Old Maids were way too interested in the conversation. I think the old boars have turned to rats."
"So what do I do, Becca? You seem to know everything here. And we’re going to talk about that earful Nolan gave me last night."
"Deflection, thy name is Faith. You’re going to take those papers and you’re going to talk it out with him. There’s an explanation to be had, but you’re not going to get it by drawing blood in the middle of Main Street."
"You’re right. Ugh. I just can’t stand her stupid face!" Or the mark on her neck. Or the lack of lie in her voice. Or the papers in her hand.
Too much had gone wrong in such a short span of time. She had mysteries that needed answers before she went crazy.
Becca glanced out of the doors, then refocused on her with a sympathy filling her features. "You have customers piling up. So. You spend the next couple minutes getting yourself together. I’m going to go out and play nice sister to the fools wanting coffee in our obvious time of need. Then you’re going to scurry across the street, ask nicely for a moment to talk, and have it out with your man."
"When did you get so good at this?" Faith sighed and leaned against one of the shelves at her back.
Becca snorted. "Probably somewhere between running away from my problems and being too scared to solve them. We’re not talking about Nolan," she cast quickly over her shoulder and dipped through the doors.
Chapter 9
A loud crash startled Tommy out of his stupor. Fuck. That’d been the second mug that morning.
"What has gotten into you?" his mother asked from her spot at the counter. She only took up one seat that morning, thankfully. Her gift exchange box had been picked clean and hidden away until next year.
He flicked his eyes across the street. He could barely see Faith at the back of her shop. Sh
e was on his mind and not giving him any peace. He couldn’t stop thinking about the way she moved against him, how she felt around him, and when he could next bury himself inside her. By the Broken, he had it bad for the little fox. One night hadn’t been enough. He doubted a lifetime of nights would be enough.
His wolf had made his choice and made it known. Faith was his.
Tommy expected to feel the walls closing in on him at the revelation. He expected to want to run for the hills. Instead, his chest filled with contentment whenever his thoughts drifted to Faith. She’d settled his wolf and made it bearable to be around people. He couldn’t even find it in himself to feel more than a brief flash of irritation at the broken pieces of mugs that littered his trash can.
"Nothing," he said, aware the stink of his lie would permeate the air. He wanted Faith bad. He did not want to discuss it with anyone, especially his mother.
Tommy stepped around the mess and grabbed a few rags to sop up the liquid before he swept up the shards. That done, he hurried to pour another cup of coffee and deliver it to his waiting customer.
"He needs to make it right with that girl. Shameful."
He was a shifter; he could hear the whispers that took place at his tables. He was a discreet man and frequently chose not to think about some of the things he overheard. Only, those words weren’t whispered. The judgment in the voice made him stiffen, and a growl rattled in his throat.
He whirled, and the growl upped into a full snarl when he spotted Shana walking past his window. She arched an eyebrow and trotted across the street.
Ah, shit. He warned Shana away from Faith, but she obviously decided against listening. He needed to get her out of Bearden. He’d placed a call in with one of his Conri cousins just that morning and got the full story of why she’d suddenly reappeared in his life. None of it made for a happy tale and he wanted to be done with her as soon as possible.
