by Roxie Noir
“You’ll come around someday,” Jonah said, smirking. “When he decides that he’s going to go back to having a different woman every week, and when he goes back to doing his alpha’s dirty work. People don’t change, Leah.”
“Maybe you don’t, father,” she said. Deep down, she was terrified, but she’d also never felt braver. “The rest of us still have a chance.”
Her father gave her a long, withering glare, looked once at Nathan, and then stormed out of the narrow hallway.
For a moment, there was dead silence. Then all of Leah’s siblings charged down the stairs, her sisters in the lead, and practically jumped on top of her, drowning her in hugs.
“You’re back!”
“You got married!”
“To him! Who knew?”
“Tell me everything!”
This is why I came back, she thought, practically lifted off the floor by the enthusiasm of her sisters.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “Everyone calm down.”
She walked into the sitting room, surrounded by her family, and looked over her shoulder as she did.
Still in the hallway, she saw her mother approach Nathan, still standing where Leah had left him, looking a little surprised and bowled over by her sisters’ enthusiasm.
Her mother said something to him, and Nathan responded.
Then they hugged.
It’s going to be a work in progress, Leah thought, only to have her thoughts interrupted by Abigail’s whisper.
“Did you do it yet?” she asked with a wink.
Leah turned pink.
Her sisters all giggled.
Leah and Nathan didn’t see her father again that day, despite staying at the house for dinner.
Afterward, Nathan insisted on doing the dishes and chased all the women out of the kitchen.
“I’ve lived by myself for almost twenty years,” he told a fretting Margaret. “I can clean a kitchen.”
The women congregated in the dining room, not really sure what to do or how to relax.
“Ian left,” Emily volunteered.
Rebecca and Abigail nodded.
“What do you mean?” Leah asked, twisting her napkin in her hands.
“His store is closed up,” Emily said. “And I heard Father talking to Brock about it. Whatever you told him really worked.”
Leah smiled, still looking down into her lap.
“He was kind of creepy,” said Rebecca.
“And too old for you,” added Abigail.
“Nathan’s much cuter,” said Rebecca. “And he’s got a great body.”
Abigail punched her sister playfully in the arm.
“He has very nice eyes,” her mother said, diplomatically. “And he does the dishes.”
Leah could hear her father stomping around on the floor above, but she didn’t care anymore. It was obvious that she’d won.
“Leah,” her mother started, then stopped. She frowned, as if looking for the right words. She sighed. “I’m so sorry I missed your wedding.”
“Mom, it’s—”
“Let me finish,” her mother said, some of the formality coming back into her voice. “I didn’t want to miss my daughter’s wedding, but let us throw you a reception, at least. To welcome Nathan to the family and you to the North Star clan.”
Leah smiled.
“Of course, mom,” she said.
“Father won’t have any of that,” observed Abigail.
Rebecca just shrugged.
“Forget Father,” said Emily. “Let’s have a party.”
Leah looked around at her family, listening to the dishes clink together in the next room.
We’re gonna be okay, she thought.
The next day, Leah drove Nathan to work and then took the car into town. Her mother let her clean out her room the night before, but all she had were dresses made from floral, ugly patterned cloth. They all had long sleeves and came down to mid-calf.
She didn’t own pants or shorts or even skirts that showed her knee, and she definitely didn’t own any high heeled shoes.
She definitely, definitely didn’t own anything sexy, or anything that could be considered lingerie-adjacent. The best she had were the white bras and white panties she wore with her frumpy dresses, and they just weren’t attractive at all.
Nathan hadn’t said anything. He was more than happy to just rip her dresses off and then make her come again and again, but she really wanted to show him something sexy.
Besides, they’d been married for three days and they still hadn’t, technically, mated.
The first night, Leah had been plenty nervous about it. She just couldn’t imagine that big hard thing somehow going inside her, and she was certain it would hurt and never, ever work. But then she’d been thoroughly introduced, to Nathan’s fingers and tongue.
It had been a convincing argument that the act of mating — putting the penis in the vagina, she thought, blushing — could be pretty fun.
She left the mall with an armful of pretty-but-practical clothes. Short skirts, pants, a pair of high heels. She wasn’t exactly sure where she was going to wear all of it, but she’d find something, she figured.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Nathan
“Do you want a cocktail?” Nathan called. He was in the kitchen, making himself a drink. Leah was in the bedroom, putting away the clothes she’d bought that day.
He hadn’t said anything, but he was secretly hoping that there was something in those bags besides more frumpy dresses and long skirts. Some skirts that showed her knees. Maybe even shorts.
I could get used to Leah wearing shorts, he thought.
“What kind of cocktail?” she asked from the doorway to the kitchen.
Nathan looked down at his ingredients. There weren’t a lot — the kitchen wasn’t stocked very well at the moment — but he had lemons, sugar, and whiskey.
“I’m making whiskey sours,” he said. “You like those?”
“I don’t know,” said Leah, coming into the kitchen and looking around at it. “I’ve never had one before.”
“It’s whiskey, lemon, and sugar,” he said. “They’re pretty good.”
“I’ve only ever sneaked Scotch from my dad’s office,” she said, sitting in a chair at the table.
Nathan grinned. “You’re a hellion.”
“You have no idea,” she said, laughing.
A few minutes later, he handed her a cocktail and they went to go sit in the living room, on Nathan’s leather couch. It was the one nice piece of furniture he owned — despite making custom pieces for everyone else in Fjords, he had never gotten around to doing it for himself.
There had never really been a point. After all, he didn’t care what he sat on or ate his meals from. Or at least, he hadn’t yet.
Leah took a sip of her drink and then turned pink almost immediately. She cleared her throat a couple of times and her eyes watered.
“It’s strong,” she said.
Nathan held out his hand. “Sorry. I can go water it down.”
She shook her head. “No, I like it,” she said, and took another sip, looking around the living room.
There was silence for a moment.
“Okay, spill,” said Nathan. “What’s the first thing you’re going to change in the house?”
Leah laughed.
“Is it that obvious?” she asked.
Nathan just nodded, amused. He took another sip of his drink.
“Curtains,” Leah said immediately. “I guess these Venetian blinds block the light OK, but they’re kind of depressing, you know?”
“Not the boxes?” Nathan asked.
Leah glanced at the few boxes that stood against the back wall of the living room and made a face.
“I’ve been trying not to look at those,” she said. “Did you move in recently?”
“Sort of recently,” Nathan said.
She just looked at him, eyebrows raised.
“Okay, four years ago,” Nathan sa
id.
“You should unpack,” Leah said lightly. She took another sip and scooted closer to Nathan on the couch.
“It’s been lacking a woman’s touch,” Nathan said. “At least it’s clean, right? I’ve seen some bachelor hell-holes.”
“That’s true,” Leah said. She was halfway through her drink, and Nathan could tell in her voice that she was starting to feel the whiskey. After all, if she’d ever drank before, it wasn’t very much. “This place could be a lot worse.”
Nathan nodded.
“It doesn’t get you off the hook, though,” she went on, smiling a devilish smile. “Just because someone else is worse.”
“Oh, come on,” Nathan said. “I was just waiting for you to come along and decorate however you like.”
Leah laughed. “Liar,” she said.
Nathan just shrugged, smiling. “You can’t prove I wasn’t.”
“The state of your bathroom sink is a pretty good indication, though,” she said.
“Those toothpaste stains are some of my best friends,” he said.
Leah took another drink, her whiskey cocktail now close to done, her bare feet propped on the leather ottoman.
“I went clothes shopping today,” she said.
She looked over at him, a sparkle her eye. Nathan felt his bear wake up and growl in response.
It was that kind of sparkle.
Leah drained her glass.
“What did you get?” he asked, trying not to seem overexcited, even though his brain immediately suggested all sort of delicious, sexy things that he’d love to see Leah in.
Instead of answering, Leah put her glass down and then, in one quick movement, straddled him on the couch.
With the drink occupying one hand, Nathan put his other hand on her thigh and slid it up, slowly, just grazing his fingers under her panties as his bear roared. It took all his self-control not to throw her back on the couch, tear off her white panties and mate her, right there, but he had to let her go at her own pace.
This is zero to sixty for her, he reminded himself yet again. We’ll get there. Give it time.
Leah’s eyes lit up and she bent down and kissed him, hard, her mouth hot against his. He slid his hand up to cup her full, luscious ass, letting his fingers sink in.
He was rock hard already, of course. It had been a near-permanent state for the last forty-eight hours, just about.
Leah broke the kiss off and sat back on her heels, her hands on his chest.
“Want to see what I got?” she asked.
She was turning slightly pink, either from the alcohol or her suggestion. Nathan couldn’t tell which.
“Absolutely,” he said, beginning to go breathless with desire.
That means something sexy, right? He asked himself. She’s not going to come out here in a job interview outfit, is she?
Leah playfully bopped his nose with one finger, then stood, walked to the bedroom, and closed the door behind her.
For a moment, Nathan imagined Leah in a job interview outfit. One of those tight skirts that came down to the knee, perfectly showing off her small waist and generous hips and ass, letting him watch it move as she walked. Or a white, button-down shirt.
He thought of undoing the buttons, one by one, then sinking his face into her cleavage, hiking her skirt up around her waist as she straddled him, and then...
Shit. His cock was tenting up his jeans, and even though he tried to adjust and hide it, even a little, it was far too obvious to do such a thing.
Nathan sighed and drained his drink, setting the glass on a side table and then leaning his head back against the sofa, trying to wrestle his bear into submission.
Then, the bedroom door opened, slowly, as if Leah was hesitant.
Nathan leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
She walked into the room, and his mouth dropped open.
Leah was wearing something silky and slinky and short, a white garment that had two thin straps over her shoulders and ended only a couple of inches down her thigh. Her nipples stood out under the thin material, and she was twisting her hands in front her, biting her lip nervously.
“Holy shit,” he breathed. “Holy fucking shit, you look incredible.”
Even his bear was silent for once, too busy practically drooling.
“You like it?” she asked, pushing an orange curl out of her face.
“Yes,” he said, nodding feverishly.
Now Nathan was standing, his hands on her shoulders. If he’d thought he was using all his self-control before, he hadn’t known anything yet.
He ached to take her, make her his mate, bite her shoulder and listen to her scream his name.
“Well,” she said, that glint back in her eye. “Are you just going to stand there or do something about it?”
Chapter Thirty
Leah
Leah curled her toes against the hardwood floor of Nathan’s — no, their — house, wondering what she was so nervous about.
Obviously Nathan was going to be excited about the lingerie she’d bought, even if it had been the most conservative choice at Victoria’s Secret.
Her stomach twisted as Nathan’s jaw dropped open for a split second, before he bounded to his feet, his hands hovering near her, almost like he was afraid to touch her.
The whiskey in her stomach gave her courage, though, and she managed to say something saucy to Nathan.
Then she put her hands on his chest and pushed him back down on the couch before he had time to even think, straddling him in a moment, the silk of her chemise gliding up over her thighs as Nathan moved his hands to her ass, leaning forward and squeezing as his lips sought hers.
When he realized that she wasn’t wearing panties, he made a slight noise and then pulled her against him, hard, grinding himself against her.
The whiskey had been exactly what she needed, that tiny bit of extra liquid courage to shut off her brain and awaken her own bear, roaring and absolutely ready to go.
Nathan pushed his tongue into her mouth and Leah pushed back, her hands pulling at his shirt, running all over his perfect, broad, muscular chest. When he pulled away from him she bit his lower lip and pulled gently, just a little, then tugged his shirt off over his head, running her fingers down his torso, to his rock-hard abs.
He pinched her nipples through the silk of her chemise, harder than he usually did, then ran his palms over her breasts, the fabric sighing against her and Leah moaned softly, leaning back a little.
“You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Nathan growled. He tugged at the straps of her chemise, pulling them a little roughly over her shoulders, revealing one breast at a time.
He ran his tongue over each nipple, sending a thrill of arousal through Leah. Her hips felt like they were moving on their own, rising and falling against Nathan’s jeans, and she could feel her juices flowing, her channel slick with excitement.
She knew that Nathan could smell how ready she was, just as she could smell the sharp, musky smell of his arousal.
As he bit her nipple, gently, moving his tongue over it again and again he put one hand between her legs, barely even touching her, running one finger along her lips, feeling how swollen and slick she was.
“More,” she sighed.
Nathan chuckled, moving his fingers up to her clit and circling it slowly, almost touching that nub of pleasure but not quite, driving Leah wild.
Then, slowly, he pushed one finger inside her.
“Mmm,” Leah said, moving her hips back and forth in circles. Nathan crooked his finger inside her at the same time that he pressed his thumb against her clit and she grabbed his shoulders hard, digging her fingernails into his hard muscles.
“More,” she demanded.
Nathan bit a nipple and slowly slid a second finger into her waiting channel. Leah bucked in pleasure, her body aching, desperate for release.
She wanted him to fill her, to claim her as his. She wanted him to take her as she wrapped her legs around
his back and screamed his name.
“More,” she said, the words coming out like a moan as she moved her hips forward, rubbing herself against the huge bulge in Nathan’s jeans. Leah felt like she barely had control over her own body — all she could feel was desperate want, pure desire for Nathan.
He bit her neck, not quite gently, and inserted a third finger.
Inside, Leah felt a slight pinch, and made a noise in the back of her throat, even as she wriggled, trying to pull Nathan’s fingers further inside herself.
“Am I hurting you?” he whispered.
“No,” she said, pushing herself forward. “It feels good.”
His thumb kept on rubbing a circle on her clit, and Leah thought that she might go out of her mind soon. The urge to take him inside her was almost overwhelming.
“Take me,” she whispered into his ear.
His fingers and thumb slowed, and he looked up at her, his handsome face somewhere between lust and caution.
“Are you sure?” he said.
Leah stood, Nathan’s hand coming out of her and her skirt falling back over her thighs. She was nearly dizzy with lust as she pulled her arms free from her lingerie, letting the top pool around her waist.
She grinned saucily at Nathan, then put her hands on his knees and leaned over him. He looked stunned.
“Take your pants off,” she said, slowly, her all-consuming lust making her bold.
Nathan didn’t need to be told twice, tearing his pants and boxers off like they were on fire, and then pulling Leah back on top of him, squeezing her breasts in his hands, hard, making her cry out.
This is it, Leah thought. She could feel her juices just barely begin to slide down her inner thigh as she grabbed Nathan’s rock-hard, thick cock, pointing straight up in the air.
He moaned as he pulled her toward him on the couch, and she pumped his cock twice, then moved the tip of it to her swollen, slick hole.
For a moment, Leah paused, a bolt of nerves running through her.
What if it hurts? A part of her whispered.
It’ll only hurt once, she thought. And god, it’s going to feel good.
Then, before she knew what was happening, Nathan had lifted her off of him. It was like she weighed nothing, as he stood with her in his arms, carrying her almost like a child as he marched to the bedroom. Leah squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck, her feet briefly in the air before he entered the bedroom and tossed her on the bed, still unmade from that morning.
