by Crissy Smith
“Furniture?” he asked with a raise of an eyebrow.
“So we can break it in properly.”
“Nicole!” Brandon objected as RJ grinned.
She laughed and started for the door. “The sooner we get this place boarded up, the quicker we can start…practising.”
She wasn’t surprised when RJ beat her to the door while Brandon mumbled under his breath, following.
* * * *
RJ groaned at the loud beeping in his ear. He reached over and slapped the alarm off before burying his head back into the pillow.
“It can’t be morning already,” came the complaint from next to him.
RJ lifted his head and grinned at the sight before him. Nikki was wrapped under his bedspread with her head hidden under the pillow. He’d taken her back home with him the night before and they’d spent all night into the early morning hours practising how they would ‘break in’ his new shop furniture.
He chuckled while he scooted closer and edged the top of the blankets down, revealing her naked shoulder. He ran his tongue over her soft skin until she shivered.
“Ugh!” she said before laughing. “You can’t want more already.”
RJ smiled. He actually felt pretty sated but just waking up beside her had all kinds of ideas popping in his head. “Well, if you can’t handle it…” he teased.
The pillow above her head slid off the bed as she burst up. “Can’t handle? Me?”
He chuckled. “Well…”
She pushed herself up and crawled over him, causing him to roll onto his back. She straddled his hips and bent over him, her hair curtaining them. “Well what?”
“Oh, nothing,” he said as innocently as he could manage.
“Hmm,” she murmured as she brushed her lips over his. “Feeling better?”
He smirked and raised his hands over his head. “Feeling pretty damn good.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes, as matter of fact…” He gasped when she grasped his cock under the covers.
“You’re right, baby,” she teased. “You do feel pretty damn good.”
He sucked in a breath when she tightened her grip and she rubbed her body down his.
“As a matter of fact, you feel so good I think I’ll have to taste.”
He did his best not to buck when her moist mouth wrapped around his shaft. But damn, did she have a talented mouth and that thing she was doing with her tongue… Oh damn!
“Baby…” He buried his hand in her hair. “Damn.”
She looked up at him from between his legs and deep-throated him again.
“Oh sweet Jesus!” he yelled, unable to keep quiet.
She continued to suck and lick until he finally lost control and plunged in and out of her mouth. She urged him on with a hand on his hip.
“So good… Yeah, suck me deep… Oh baby…”
Too soon he could feel the start of his climax. He tightened his hold on her hair and pulled gently. She popped off and grinned.
“Get up here,” he ordered, already pulling on her before she started to move. “I don’t want to come until I’m inside you.”
She moaned, sitting astride his thighs. “Yes.”
He held her around the waist while she positioned herself over him. She sank down slowly, drawing a moan from them both.
“God, you feel me up so good,” she told him, arching her back once he was seated deep inside her.
He couldn’t have agreed more. He held her tight and pushed his hips up. “Come on, baby, ride me.”
She pressed her hand down on his shoulders and lifted up before sliding back down. She took her time, slowly rising and falling, teasing and taunting.
“Please, Nikki,” he begged as she tortured him.
She laughed wickedly.
He slapped her ass playfully. She tightened around his cock and moaned. Oh, now this was interesting. He did it again and was treated to her gasp and her pace picking up.
“Yeah, baby, faster, harder,” he encouraged and gave her another smack.
“RJ,” she cried, tightening even more.
He braced his feet on the bed and thrust up each time she came down on his cock. They moved quickly, with him spanking her every few strokes, until it was just the sound of flesh against flesh filling the room.
RJ lifted up to sit and gripped her hips hard, pulling her down on his shaft deeper. “Come for me, Nikki, come on my cock.”
She did. Crying out his name, she fell over the edge, pulling him over with her.
He dropped back down, keeping his arms around her as he struggled to catch his breath.
She nuzzled his chest and he knew he wanted to wake up like this every morning for the rest of his life.
Pounding on the door broke up the peaceful sated state he had fallen into.
“Come on, you two! Get your asses in the kitchen,” Dylan ordered.
Nikki groaned.
“We’re coming!” RJ called out to his brother.
“God, I hope not!” Dylan shouted back. “I’m surprised you haven’t killed each other yet.”
Nikki squeaked and started to squirm off him.
“He’s just messing with us,” RJ tried to assure her.
“No, I’m not! If you two go at it again, I’m going to make you sleep in separate rooms,” Dylan argued.
“We’ll be down in a minute!” RJ hollered, watching a blushing Nikki dart into the bathroom. His brother’s laughter started to drift away and RJ rubbed his hand over his face. He was going to have to think of a way to get him back and soon.
Chapter Eleven
After a wonderful, if not embarrassing morning, Nikki found herself with Justin and Ben at the Pack clearing, getting ready for the barbeque before the ceremony. She was pleased with the number of volunteers and the progress they were making.
The tables had been covered with red and white cloths, the chairs set up, and six grills were off to the side ready to be fired up.
The teenagers of the Pack had finished setting up the table and chairs and started piling wood in the fire pits for later in the night. She grinned as Sabrina and Max began to load one of the tables with an assortment of desserts. It was all coming together. They just had to get through the day and hopefully by morning they would have a new Alpha and the Pack would be complete. Then she had to figure out what she was going to do.
When she’d made the trip home, she hadn’t known anything about what she had now found herself in the middle of. Finding a mate hadn’t even been on her radar. Now she couldn’t imagine returning to the city without RJ. But she could tell that RJ was home here—with his brothers, with his Pack—and she couldn’t ask him to leave. So where did that leave them?
“Penny for your thoughts,” Ben said softly, coming up behind her.
She turned and smiled at the youngest Cross brother. “Do you think we’ll be able to actually pull this off?”
Okay, that wasn’t what she had actually been thinking, but it was close.
Ben looked around and nodded. “I think so. Even if Samson tries something, without Brandon there to back his play I don’t think much can come from it. The Pack respects Brandon and that was our biggest concern. He would have support just because he has earned it. Samson doesn’t have that going for him.”
“Brandon never wanted to be Alpha,” Nikki reminded him.
“No, he didn’t. But if you hadn’t come down, I don’t think we would have been able to come together like we did. All Dylan and Brandon needed to do was get together and talk about the future of the Pack. To see that they both shared the same ideas on our future.”
Nikki laughed. “Yeah, well, leave it to the men to be stubborn and almost fight instead.”
Ben chuckled and Justin caught her eye as he moved from the group of teenagers to talk to Max. She glanced over at Ben.
“So you want to let me in on what’s going on between you and Justin?” she teased.
Ben blushed and shifted on his feet. “Uh…well
…”
Nikki turned to face him with a smirk. “Should I ask what your intentions are with my brother?”
Ben shook his head, his eyes going wide. “No! It’s not like that! I mean…we haven’t really decided…”
She threw an arm over his shoulder and turned them so they could see Justin trying to steal a cookie from one of the platters an older Pack member was placing on the table. She slapped at his hand, but he danced away, laughing.
“Just treat him right. I think the two of you are perfect for each other,” she told Ben sincerely.
Ben sucked in a breath. “Really?”
Nikki hugged him closer. “Yeah.”
“I’ve never felt like this before,” Ben confessed. “He makes me laugh. Makes me feel like there is something besides work. He’s just so friendly and free.”
“Good. Make sure he treats you right also. I’d hate to have to kick my brother’s ass.”
“Speaking of kicking a brother’s ass, may I ask why you are hanging on mine?” RJ’s voice came behind them.
“Because he is so damn cute!” she told RJ as he pulled her away from his brother and into his arms.
“Not cuter than me, though, right?” RJ asked and winked.
“I…I think I’ll go see if Justin needs some help,” Ben said quickly and left them alone.
Nikki didn’t even glance after the other man. Her entire focus was on the one in front of her. “I wouldn’t really say you were cute,” she taunted.
“No?” he breathed against her neck.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him closer. “No. Sexy, maybe. Hot, for sure.”
“Mmm, sexy, I like that,” he told her, licking a path from her ear down her neck.
“Oh yeah, sexy as sin.” She shivered when he started to nibble.
“Haven’t the two of you had enough of each other yet?” Dylan asked sarcastically as he joined them.
RJ sighed and loosened his hold. “Maybe if you would stop cockblocking me,” he groused.
Dylan laughed. “My sympathies.”
“Where’s Brandon?” RJ asked, looking around. It had been agreed upon that Brandon and Dylan would partner up for the day so neither man would be alone.
Dylan nodded to the parking lot. “He’s going over something with his deputies. He wants everyone on high alert. Hopefully the ceremony will go off without any problems, but I don’t see Samson just giving up. That attack on your shop last night shows how pissed he is.”
“Hey, where’s Mike?” Nikki asked RJ. Mike was supposed to stay with RJ for the same reason.
“He had some calls to make. I left him in the truck.”
A commotion from the parking lot had them stiffening up. Nikki laughed nervously when a dozen small school-aged children came running into the clearing.
“Damn,” Dylan groaned rubbing the back of his neck. “We need to calm down or we’ll have heart attacks before the ceremony even starts.”
RJ kissed the side of her neck before pulling Dylan by the arm. “Come on, let’s get a drink.”
Nikki watched them go, smiling. They stopped to talk to several people, both new and old Pack members, before they made it to the drink table. She saw Justin and Ben sitting at a table sitting close together off to the side.
“I never thought I would see you smiling at someone like that here at home.”
Nikki sighed and turned to face Brandon. “I didn’t either,” she admitted. “You know I was pissed when you ordered me home.”
He nodded. “Yeah, you didn’t hide that well.”
“What would have happened if I hadn’t come?”
Brandon shrugged his shoulders. “I hope I would have gotten my head out of my ass before I did something stupid like challenge Dylan, but I don’t know. I got caught up in all the politics.”
“You have it worked out now?” she asked, stepping closer to her brother. He was a good man so she did believe he would have figured it out. No matter what happened, she was proud of him.
“Dylan asked me to be his Beta. He wants Max and RJ as his enforcers and a couple others from both Packs in the inner circle. Everyone he named made sense and Cameron agreed with his choices. I do believe he will make a good Alpha.”
“Well then, congratulations,” she said with a hip bump against him.
He grinned. “Thanks, but it’s not over yet. Stay close tonight.”
Nikki sighed but he cut her off.
“I mean it. This will be the last chance before anything done against Dylan will be against the Alpha. It’s all or nothing tonight.”
“I know, Bran,” she assured him. “I’ll be careful.”
He nodded. “Cameron just arrived. I have to go over a few things with him.”
He left her quickly and she rolled her eyes. Brandon in full protective mode once again. She spotted RJ and made her way over to him to steal some more kisses.
* * * *
RJ could feel the excitement in the air. The Alpha ceremony would start soon and the Pack was in full celebration. Cameron, Dylan and Brandon stood in the middle of the clearing, preparing for the circle. Justin and Ben were working the crowd like pros and Nikki was in the middle of a group of women around her age. They laughed and squealed, and he couldn’t hold back a smile as she shook her hips and danced away, laughing.
He caught her eye and the look in hers changed, moving from happy to heated with passion. He jerked his head to the edge of the crowd and she nodded.
He captured her in his arms as they came together on the outskirts of the clearing. Their lips met, breath mixed, and he devoured her. She broke away panting and rested her forehead on his chest.
“I’ve been watching you,” she informed him, slipping her hands down his back.
“I know,” he whispered back. “I’ve been watching you too.”
They kissed again until she shivered in his arms. It was getting too hot, too fast.
“I want you,” she admitted, mouthing his collarbone. “I always want you.”
He moaned and looked around for any semi-private place. They were surrounded by Pack members. No one was paying attention to them now, but it wouldn’t be long before they drew some unwanted attention. Especially if she kept teasing him with her tongue…
“We can’t…” Damn it, there had to be somewhere close by.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Pack members,” Cameron’s voice rose above the crowd. “It’s time.”
“Oh God!” Nikki whimpered and pushed him away. “They better hurry and get this over with.”
Her chest heaved, her eyes wild, and he could smell her arousal. He reached for her again but she shook her head. “If you touch me again, everyone is going to get a show,” she promised.
He dropped his head and stifled a groan. He had better control than this. They would get through the ceremony then he would take her to the first private spot they found and pound into her.
“Please join me at the circle as we welcome our new Pack members and begin the Alpha ceremony,” Cameron invited.
RJ led Nikki around and through the crowd until they stood next to the circle beside Brandon, Justin and Ben. Dylan knelt in the middle of the circle with his head bent.
“Woodrow Wilson once said, ‘The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people’. I have tried to listen to each member of this Pack and always advise with all of your best interests in my heart. My time has passed and another’s has begun.”
RJ looked at his brother with pride almost bursting from his chest. Nikki slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze. The feelings of happiness threatened to overwhelm him.
“I know in my heart that my replacement will be able to lead the Pack in the right direction and protect you as the shifter world moves forward with plans on going public.”
There was a stirring behind Cameron but RJ’s view was blocked.
“The future of the Pack will rest on the shoulders of this man before me. I want each—”
; “Excuse me, Alpha Cameron!” someone shouted from the crowd.
Pack members shuffled around while Samson led a small group forward to stand at the edge of the circle across from them.
Samson was backed by the elders and their families and a half-dozen men he’d never seen before.
There was a gasp in the crowd and he heard the murmur of words like ‘feline’, ‘cats’, and ‘shifters’.
RJ searched for Mike and saw him moving forward. He looked down at Nikki’s pale face.
“You and Ben go with Mike,” he whispered to her, waving a hand at the man.
“RJ, no!” She gripped his hand tighter.
“Please, baby.”
Mike arrived to pull Ben and Nikki back. Both fought but a look from Brandon had them grumbling back into the crowd.
“What is the meaning of this, Samson?” Cameron demanded and he faced the other man. Dylan stood and RJ, Brandon, Justin, Max and a few others fanned out behind him and Cameron.
“You have your pick for the future and we have ours,” Samson told him, motioning to one of the big strangers next to him.
“You have no authority to choose the next leader. I am Alpha and the choice is mine,” Cameron stated, bracing his feet apart and standing to his full height. While aged, the man was still a powerful force.
“You just said you listen to your Pack,” Samson challenged. “Your Pack has a different vision than you.”
Cameron took his time looking around his Pack. All of the Pack members that had already been at the ceremony had separated away from Samson, leaving a wide area between them. “I believe the majority of the Pack respect my wishes.”
“But not all. This is a Pack decision, one that will affect us for many years,” one of the elders spoke up from behind Samson.
“So instead of following my choice you bring forward a man, a feline shifter we know nothing about?” Cameron inquired with a nasty twist of his lips.
“Fred has led his small group of felines for several years,” Samson argued. “He is just as qualified as Dylan Cross.”
There was more rumbling in the crowd but Cameron held up a hand.
“What exactly do you suggest?” the Alpha asked.
