by Siobhan Muir
“But, Julianna…” Tawny protested again.
“I’ll be vigilant and ready to call for help if the situation gets out of hand, but I won’t retaliate until I have proof that Ms. Solaris is behind all these events.” Julianna laid her hand flat on the table in emphasis. Anger and frustration welled up inside, but she crossed her arms over her chest to hold them back.
I really do want to be Luna. Julianna wanted to win the competition on her own merits, not because she exposed a fellow candidate as a cheat. And she wasn’t convinced Ms. Solaris had cheated. Something about the two attacks didn’t ring true. I swear there’s something I’m missing. And getting back at Brenda, while it might be fun, would only hurt my standing in the competition.
“It’s not right, Julianna.”
“I know it seems that way, Tawny, but please don’t do anything to Ms. Solaris on my behalf. I don’t want to be disqualified as a candidate. I’ll just have to be more vigilant and so can you. I need proof that Ms. Solaris is actually trying to undermine me or harm me.”
Tawny looked like she wanted to spit nails.
“Please, Tawny,” Julianna said gently. “Don’t dishonor me or yourself by doing anything that hurts Ms. Solaris.”
“You could always let the rest of the pack know that you’ve lost respect for Ms. Solaris, Tawny,” Jeff said into the silence. “You know how rumor spreads through this town.”
“Jeff.” A growl underlay Richard’s voice.
“What?” Jeff tried to look innocent. “I agree with both Tawny and Julianna. Julianna is my Mate, Dad. Ms. Solaris should be punished for her actions. I wish I could kick the crap out of her myself and send her back to LA. But Julianna is right, too. It would detract from her and us if we resorted to the same tactics. However, I think the pack should decide if Ms. Solaris is so deserving of her rank and status.”
“You can’t interfere, Jeff.”
“I won’t.” Jeff offered his customary half-smile. “I leave that up to Tawny’s discretion and that of her friends.”
“Please, nothing underhanded, Ms. Tawny.” Julianna begged her with a look. “I have to win this on my own, through my own positive actions.”
Tawny sighed, nodding. “All right.”
“Thank you.”
Julianna hugged herself tighter and felt Jeff shift a little in his chair until his thigh brushed hers under the table.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I think so. It’s just so messed up with everything that’s happened. I mean, I’ve had rough times, but I’ve never been a target before. It’s unsettling.”
Richard nodded and gave Jeff a look she couldn’t interpret as she reviewed her memories of the recent months. The scary events in the last few days made her wonder if life would always be this exciting once the competition was over. How did anyone live with that kind of uncertainty, day after day?
Eloise must live with it now that her sister is missing.
Crap! Nora Farkas.
“Oh!” The others jumped. “Sorry. I just remembered something important. At the salon the other night, Eloise Farkas told me that her sister Nora has been missing for four weeks without contact of any kind. Eloise didn’t want to speak to you about it. When she told me, I offered to bring it to your attention, Alpha.”
Richard’s expression settled into thoughtfulness.
“Have I breached protocol by telling you in Eloise’s place?”
“No, Ms. Morris, but I’m concerned that a packmember has been missing for so long without anyone saying anything.” Richard cocked his head, his brow creased in a frown. “Did Eloise tell you anything about her sister’s plans or if she normally does this sort of thing, disappearing for a while?”
“No, Alpha. She said she knew of nothing that could explain Nora’s disappearance. I mentioned it to Detective Caninus of the Leland PD and he suggested I tell you ASAP.”
“Exactly right.” Richard nodded. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. We’ll get on it right away, and I’ll talk to the family.”
Julianna nodded and stood. “Thank you, Alpha. Please excuse me. I need to get ready for the day.”
“What about breakfast?” Jeff gestured to the table.
“Thanks. Tawny brought me some upstairs. I’ll just finish that.”
Julianna exited the room as quickly as possible, suddenly embarrassed over her appearance. Once she’d reached the stairs, however, her mind returned to the problem of Ms. Solaris and the events at the salon and the bar. Something about them seemed off. Everything pointed to Ms. Solaris as the mastermind behind the attacks, and Julianna would bet a case of Jack Daniels whiskey that the men who attacked her had come from Los Angeles.
Without concrete evidence for anyone other than Ms. Solaris trying to cheat in the game, Julianna couldn’t point fingers or make accusations. But I swear I’m missing something. It felt like someone else pulled all the strings and called all the shots from behind the scenes.
Julianna frowned as she gathered up a towel and her toiletries. She had no reason to suspect anyone else in this mess, but the feeling of a hidden player just wouldn’t go away. She stopped in the middle of the room, her mind playing out the possibilities.
What if there is another person trying to make it look as if Ms. Solaris is trying to take me down? Julianna’s mind projected the scenario forward. If she engineered my failure and didn’t get caught, she’d pass the tests and have a better chance of being chosen as Luna.
That was mostly true. Cameron Winthrop still remained in the game as a viable Candidate. Julianna hadn’t heard anything about her misbehaving or acting out. Brenda Solaris would still have to contend with Cameron if Julianna failed.
In this game, everyone’s looking at me and Brenda as primary rivals. There appears to be no one else in the top rank. But who’d have the most to gain if I failed and Brenda got accused of manipulating it?
Julianna’s thoughts splintered as her bedroom door opened and Jeff stepped into the room. Arousal and heat flashed through her body, and she clamped her hands on her towel to keep from throwing herself at him. His masculine beauty lay hidden beneath a rusty red T-shirt with “Sedona” across the chest in black letters and a pair of black canvas shorts held to his waist by a black leather belt. He padded across the floor to her, his green-gold eyes alight with desire and fierce joy.
“Julianna,” he growled, lust filling his voice.
“What are you doing here, Jeff?” She backed up, fighting her own needs in the face of his intent. Thank the Goddess she still wore clothes. “You know you can’t be alone with me until I pass the tests, and you really shouldn’t be alone with me in your father’s house!”
“It doesn’t matter now.” She raised an eyebrow at him, and he grinned. “I’m here to offer my very special, personal, congratulations on passing all seven tests.”
“Wait, I passed? Why wasn’t I told?”
“I’m telling you now,” he whispered as he leaned in to kiss her cheek near her ear. “You’ve passed all the tests, and now you’ll be my Luna.” His lips teased her arousal, scorching her from the inside out. Each kiss elicited a sigh, and her knees tried to melt out from under her.
“Doesn’t some sort of announcement or ceremony have to happen so the pack is aware of my success?”
Jeff’s kisses drugged her mercilessly, but Julianna held on to her wits. She refused to screw everything up now that she’d come so close to winning the man of her dreams. Julianna squeaked and tried to gather her lost thoughts when he bit her earlobe. What had she been asking about again? Oh, yes, official ceremony.
“Yes, there is.” Jeff lifted her shirt and filled his warm hands with her breasts. “It’ll happen in two days here at the house. The whole Pack will be here to see it.”
“Oh, Goddess, Jeff.” Julianna moaned as he massaged her breasts with his hands. He ducked his head to lick her skin while she chased her thoughts. “But isn’t that a Friday night? Won’t the loss of revenue—”
>
“The bar can handle a little revenue loss.”
“Jeff, don’t we have to stop? The others will know when we’re standing up in front of them that we’ve done this.” She gasped as he pulled one nipple into his mouth and suckled gently. “Oh my God, that feels good!”
He chuckled around her nipple and sucked a little more before he stepped back and pulled her shirt over her head. She met his gaze with her own desires heating her blood, the wash of lust shutting down her thinking. But Julianna fought her Sister’s arousal with determination. Sebrina’s warning about pre-ceremonial sex brushed through her mind. She didn’t want Jeff to lose his position of Successor because he’d succumbed to his hormones.
“You have to stop, Jeff,” she said, ignoring her body’s screaming protests. “I won’t lose you because we’ve jumped the gun. You could lose your position as Successor—”
“That’s never happened before.”
“So there’s no precedent, but there’s always a first time.” She held him at arm’s length, and he leaned against her hands. “I am your True Mate, but I won’t lose my candidacy because I’ve fucked you early! Do you hear me?”
“Such language from the future Luna of the pack.” He tsked, a predatory smile creasing his face. “I might just have to spank you for being so naughty.”
He’s lost his mind.
Jeff’s grin only widened at her incredulous stare. He tried to push her down onto the bed, but she twisted sideways, her heart pounding in her chest. She wanted him to chase her. No, no, no! I have to get away before we get in trouble.
With a yip of excitement, he caught her hand and used her momentum to drag her back into his arms as she pivoted. Triumph filled his expression until Julianna bent her knees. Her intent to escape backfired as she slid down his body, leaving her face level with his bulging crotch. They both froze.
The scent of Jeff’s arousal enveloped Julianna, and her Sister whimpered with desperation.
Please, let me just taste him a little!
Julianna stared at his hard cock pressed tightly against the fly of his shorts. Jeff looked down at her, his face flushed, his eyes wild. His chest rose and fell, stretching his shirt against the hard muscles she ached to touch. His beauty and power filled her with rampant desire to submit to his dominance. Julianna felt his strength like flames on her face, and her smile widened. She’d tease and torture him to get her way, but she would get her way.
Sliding her hands up his thighs, she pressed her breasts against his knees and felt him tremble with surprise. Julianna grasped his belt buckle and released the belt with a hiss of leather in the charged air. Her fingers pulled open the top button and slowly eased the zipper down until his shorts hung loosely on his hips.
“What are you doing?” Jeff panted, bracing his legs far enough apart to keep himself upright. His eyes blazed with scorching lust.
“I’m compromising, as any good politician must.” Julianna shoved his shorts and boxer briefs over his ass and down to his ankles. His cock pushed forward, gently thumping her nose. “I’ll give you pleasure to relieve the edge of your need, and you’ll wait to fuck me until after the choosing ceremony. Deal?”
She rubbed her tongue around the rough edge of the head of his cock, and he shuddered.
“Oh, Holy Goddess!”
“Deal?” She stroked the skin of his balls with her nose.
Jeff whimpered, actually whimpered, and nodded vigorously when Julianna licked from the base of his balls all the way back up the shaft to the head. Then she sucked his cock into her mouth, massaging the tip and enjoying the feel of the hot, smooth skin on her tongue. He tasted the way he smelled, like the desert after the rain combined with musky, aroused male.
She tightened her lips around him and pushed her head down. His cock slid slowly deeper into her mouth until the tip pressed against her throat.
She swallowed.
“Oh, sweet Goddess!” he groaned and fisted her hair.
Julianna dragged her tongue and lips back up his shaft, pausing only to suck on the head before she pulled back and nuzzled his balls. The soft sac drew up tight against his body, but the muscles relaxed a little as she stroked them. Jeff’s scent changed around his scrotum, becoming more earthy and wild, and she reveled in it. She dropped teasing, wet kisses on the crinkled skin and wiry hair, laughing when he grabbed her head and thrust his cock back into her mouth.
Jeff moaned his pleasure as she moved her head forward and back, matching his slow thrusts. Julianna slid one hand up under his shirt along the line of hair rising from his groin, and the muscles of his belly contracted. Each stroke of her lips over his taut cock hardened him more, filling her mouth with his earthy taste. Julianna increased the pressure, scrubbing her tongue-tip over the sensitive spot just behind the head.
Jeff growled and thrust faster. He’d thrown his head back, his eyes closed in furious concentration. The muscles of his chest bunched under his T-shirt as his fists opened to hold her head where he wanted it. Julianna dropped her hand to the base of his cock and held his hip with the other as he shuttled in and out of her mouth.
“Your mouth is heaven, Julianna!” he rumbled, meeting her eyes with his molten gold gaze.
She growled around his cock, and he grinned in ecstatic amazement.
“You like taking me, my sweet Lupine?”
Julianna winked at him and tightened her grip on the base of his cock as she tickled the ridge of his head with her tongue. Jeff groaned and closed his eyes, tipping his head back on his shoulders once more as he slammed his hips forward. The room filled with the sounds of his rasping breaths and the wet slide of skin against skin. Julianna knew he’d reached his peak when his cock turned to stone in her mouth, and his belly contracted with his building pleasure. Fierce triumph made her Sister howl, and her body wept in sympathetic arousal.
“Oh, Goddess, you’re gonna make me come!”
Julianna wanted to swallow down his seed, but some sane part of her made her pull back and finish him with her hand. The change in venue didn’t make a difference to him. He let loose with a roar, thrusting the last few times as his release shot out over her hand, scalding her skin with its erotic heat. She reveled in the scent of sex and satisfaction, both hers and his. This was her Mate and her male. And she gave him enough pleasure to elicit a roar.
Finally, he stopped with his eyes still closed. Julianna rested her head against his hip and tried to catch her own breath. Jeff had been magnificent in his pleasure, even better than in her dream, and she wished she could have felt his release in her throat.
“Thank you.”
She tilted her head to look up at him and met his eyes. They’d returned to their green-gold glory, but they brimmed with gratitude and relief.
“My pleasure.”
“Not yet, but I have plans about that.” He reached out and lifted her to her feet, straight into his arms. “Thank you for thinking beyond the satisfaction. You probably saved us a world of hurt.”
Julianna delighted in the warmth of his body against her naked chest, but her own arousal snarled in the background like her rabid Sister.
“Only in the eyes of the pack,” she remarked tersely, but she softened it with a smile.
Jeff’s relaxed amusement faded into concern. He slid one hand up her neck to cup her face, tilting it to lay a soft kiss on her cheek as he inhaled her scent.
“Oh, my little minx, you’re too devious for your own good.” He growled with amused satisfaction. “I can scent your arousal. You’re burning with it, aren’t you?” He chuckled, dropping his hand to her peaked nipples. “I can help you with that, you know.”
“Oh, I’m counting on it. But after the ceremony. Now, I have to take a shower.”
He grinned. “Me, too. Let me help you with that.”
“We can’t have sex, Jeff.”
“What definition of sex are you working from?” he countered, leading her down the hallway to the guest bath. “I mean, didn’t we just do
something defined as sex?”
The large bathroom had a golden marble floor and walls painted a rich terracotta red. A stand-alone shower large enough to fit three people stood beside a huge marble bathtub across from the door. The room felt warm and inviting, especially with Jeff’s resplendent body striding across the marble tiles.
He stole her breath as he opened the shower and adjusted the water to the proper temperature. Then he drew her shorts off her hips and threw his shirt to the floor. The muscles in his back and arms flexed in a symphony of motion, the view flooding her pussy with erotic cream and weakening her knees. Julianna sagged against the bathroom door, fighting her desperate need to throw herself at him. As if sensing her needs, Jeff reached for her and pulled her into the stream of hot water with him.
“You never answered my question.” Jeff slid his hands and lips over her body.
“What question?” Her breath hitched when Jeff’s hands followed the flood of water down her belly to her mound.
“Your definition of sex.” His fingers dipped between her lips, sliding through her cream. “Mmm-mmm, you’re wet.”
Humor surfaced from beneath Julianna’s arousal. “I’m in the shower.”
He chuckled and rubbed his thumb against her clit. “Not that kind of wet.” Then he pressed a finger into her tight cleft, and she gasped. “This kind of wet.”
“Oh, God, Jeff!” Julianna arched her back to push his hand deeper.
“That’s it, my little minx. Ride my hand.”
Julianna groaned and rocked her hips against his thrusting finger, seeking relief from the overwhelming lust and desire. Jeff pressed her up against the wall of the shower, the cold tile against her back making her squeak in surprise. He grinned at her and inserted a second finger, stretching her tightening pussy.
“Come on, sweet Lupine, let me give you pleasure.” He scraped his teeth along the cords of her throat, and she whimpered, thrusting her hips harder against his hand.
The scent of sex and lust filled the shower space, and Julianna felt like she’d explode. Jeff groaned at her neck when her pussy involuntarily clamped down on his fingers, and he thrust them harder into her. Thick steam clouded the glass door when Julianna reached her peak. She dug her fingernails into Jeff’s shoulders as her body ruptured with pleasure. A wail of rapture escaped into the noise of the shower and he caught the tail end of it by sealing his lips over hers.
