by V. A. Dold
When she didn’t answer, he took her hand and helped her to her feet. “How do your feet feel?”
“Much better. Thank you.” Surprisingly, she didn’t have a panic attack when he grabbed her hand. More than that, being nice to him and thanking him hadn’t been the bitter pill she expected. The therapy hypnosis must be working better than she dreamed.
Stefan led her toward the open terrace doors. A light breeze fluttered the decorative curtains, drawing couples into the darker, more private garden.
As he stepped from the historic mansion, the chilly night breeze blew his hair back and cooled his skin. Inhaling deeply, he closed his eyes and willed his pulse to return to normal. It didn’t. Not an iota of relief.
When he turned to face her, he looked…sad. She had never seen him behave like this. It was a bit unnerving to say the least.
Casting his gaze to their feet, he asked, “Am I really so offensive? You can hardly stand to be in my presence.”
He wouldn’t even look at her. Oh, this was bad. Now what should she do?
There was no way she was admitting her lifelong crush and disappointment. Or the degradation suffered in college. “No, I wouldn’t say offensive... and I prefer to not have this conversation in public.”
“Well, that’s something anyway.” This was going to be more difficult than he had imagined.
Chapter Seven
The Ball
There was no time like the present and he was determined to take on the challenge of winning his mate’s heart.
“It’s a beautiful night and the path is paved. I think we can risk it without shoes. Do you have your wrap? I’d appreciate it if you took a walk with me.”
A walk seemed innocent enough. She could manage that.
“Sure. Maybe it’ll help lessen the swelling in my feet if I move around,” she answered only half listening to the question.
There was something deep down niggling at her, something about his voice. She would figure it out if it was the last thing she did. She hated mysteries.
Halfway around the garden, he drew a deep breath and took her hand.
Instinctively El snatched hers back and stepped away from him.
His wolf howled in despair when she refused them.
As they neared the patio doors again, El broke the silence. “Please excuse me for a minute. I need to powder my nose.”
She had to get away from Stefan so she could breathe. She was determined to stick to her vow to never let another handsome, womanizing man humiliate her.
“Okay, El, you can do this.” She took a deep, calming breath. “You can make it another half hour and then you’re out of here.”
She leaned toward the mirror and squinted at her breasts. “And you two knock it off.”
A few more calming breaths and she would walk out the door and face the music, so to speak.
Stefan leaned on the doorframe and watched her cross the room. Now that he’d spent some time with her, he could recall a freckle-faced teenage girl who always hung in the background whenever he was around. To think she’d been there, under his nose, all along.
A smile tugged at his lips.
That quiet little girl had become one hell of a woman.
He imagined her curly, chocolate brown hair must be long based on the hairdo she had tonight. His dimples deepened as he imagined her curls as they framed her lovely face in the heat of the day as she worked her horses. But, truth be told, it was her eyes that captured his heart and soul–beautiful brown eyes that could tame his wolf and stop him in his tracks.
He pictured her mouth and his mind flooded with images of El’s lips, warm and sweet on his and then moving over his body, doing things to a certain part of his anatomy. The seams of his dress pants almost exploded from the pressure they were withstanding.
Stefan adjusted his inseam, the relief was minor and the effort to hide the growing evidence of his desire was wasted. He didn’t want to scare her off because he had absolutely zero control over his base responses. Judging from her reactions throughout the night, she’d never believe his discomfort was complements of her. He knew what she thought of him and the nicknames she called him. Never fear, he would change her opinion of him given time.
“It looks like you’ll be cleaning dog kennels,” Marcus said as he joined Stefan.
“Yeah, it does,” Stefan said with a huge dimply grin.
Marcus narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on? You’re way too happy about this and you never get turned down. Are you ill? Should I call Anna and Momma?”
“There’s no way I’m rushing this lady. She’s my mate. She’ll receive as much time as she needs. I can wait.”
“Damn. It’s just not right to follow through on the bet now. I really thought we won this time.”
“Sorry to ruin your fun, little brother.” Stefan’s smile turned to a look of worry. “I have my work cut out for me with El and I can’t afford to blow it.”
“What’s the problem? You’re the Don Juan of shifters. This should be a cake walk for you.”
“That’s the problem. I hear and feel her impression of me, and it isn’t good. She knows my history and predilections when it comes to women. To her I’m nothing but a playboy sleaze-ball. Worse, every time I try to touch her she freezes and terror rolls off her in waves.”
Marcus’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. “Shit. You’re screwed. What do you think the problem is?”
“I don’t know–yet. And thank you for that complete vote of confidence,” Stefan scowled.
“I call ‘em as I see ‘em,” Marcus shrugged. “And brother, you’re toast.” Marcus’s head turned toward feminine laughter and a grin pulled at his lips. “I see a group of single ladies who require my attention.”
He slapped Stefan on the back. “Good luck with El. I mean it. I hope it works out for both of you.”
Stefan walked to the table where he left his boots. There was only time for one more dance, and then if all went well he would be walking El to her car. As he waited, he loosened his tie and opened the top couple buttons on his shirt. Had it gotten warm in the ballroom? Or was it just him?
El emerged from the ladies’ room and locked eyes with him. The woman could stop his heart from the other side of the ballroom with one look. It wasn’t going to matter if she was covered in dust, wearing jeans and boots or this damn sexy gown, she would always be the prettiest woman he’d ever seen. From this moment forward, no other woman existed for him.
As she moved toward him, he imagined unwrapping her like a birthday present to find out once and for all if she actually had panties under her gown. If she did he was going to peel them off.
With his teeth.
Slowly.
His groin instantly tightened. Damn. This time he heard a seam give way. A quick discrete check assured him he wasn’t exposed...yet. The tuxedo jacket just saved his ass, literally. It also came in handy for concealing his hard-on from hell. Tuxedos suddenly weren’t so bad after all.
He straightened from the doorjamb as she approached. “How are your feet feeling?”
“Much better. Don’t tell your mother, but I threw the shoes in the garbage.”
“My mother? You mentioned her before.”
“She used the auction as payback for curing my stallion. Otherwise I never would have been on that stage.”
Stefan had a niggling suspicion his mother had arranged his meeting with El, but he couldn’t figure out how. Didn’t matter.
“Would you dance with me again?”
She grudgingly accepted his outstretched hand. “I can fit one more dance in, but then I have to go. I have a stall door to fix in the morning.”
He found open space on the dance floor and drew her close, savoring the feel of her curves against him even if she remained as stiff as a board.
The song began with her left hand on his shoulder, but it had gradually drifted lower and now lay on his chest. Casually, so as not to draw her attention, he dropped his
gaze to her hand resting to the right of his heart. She was so precious to him. El had an incredible strength and snark that stunned and amused him.
No one knew how very alone he’d been the last one hundred and fifty years. He never told a soul about what happened between him and Beth. Regardless, his loneliness had reached an end and his future was soft and warm and in his arms.
He sucked in a breath as her breast brushed his chest, sparking a profound desire that ripped through him. A desire that was more than hunger for her body. It was a need to connect with her mind and soul as well. A deep longing for the entire woman, trucker mouth and all. Somehow, he would convince her he wasn’t the careless heartbreaker she believed.
Of course, he failed to factor her choice into the matter. He was about to get an ugly wake up call.
Slowly, Stefan skimmed his palm up her back, from her hip to her shoulder. He was on shaky ground and didn’t want to ruin the moment with unwanted advances. When she went rigid but didn’t protest, he continued from her shoulder, down her arm to the delicate, warm, destination he sought, gently covering her hand with his own in a sweet caress. Startled, her gaze shot to his. Her body trembled in a sadistic combination of terror and yearning. Maintaining eye contact, he brought her palm to his lips and placed a kiss in the center.
El swallowed hard and struggled to breathe. She’d dreamt of this moment thousands of times, and here she was, frozen, her brain disconnected from every limb she possessed, torn between pulling his lips down to hers and running for her life. What the hell was wrong with her?
The hard muscles beneath his shirt brushed at her very alert nipples. The slight contact made her racing heart pound harder. Worse, his skin smelled of new leather. The intoxicating cologne made her head spin. At least she knew where the aroma was coming from.
His lips were soft and his breath warm against her palm. Like a deer caught in headlights, she couldn’t look away. Stefan returned her left palm to his chest and pulled her right palm closer to join her left, placing it directly over his hammering heart. This allowed him to wrap both arms around her and pull her closer. Somehow he had managed to get every inch of his body molded to hers.
I survived, I won.
El repeated her mantra over and over in her mind.
As the last notes of the song played, she watched, eyes widening, as his lips descended. First they were soft and tentative, but rapidly the kiss changed to raw hunger. He took control of her mouth. Seeking. Probing.
With her brain jumbled, her mantra was forgotten. Without the lifeline she so desperately needed, terror took over. El tore her mouth from his and slapped him with everything she had. Stefan’s head snapped back from the impact.
Unfortunately, her pinky managed to catch on the unbuttoned front of his dress shirt and ripped another couple buttons open on her follow through. Now his shirt really gaped, leaving nothing to the imagination.
When his vision cleared, El was across the room, five feet from the exit. He watched her scrub her lips with the back of her hand as she turned and glared at him, raw disgust etched on her face. She was blazing mad with eyes spitting fire.
Dammit!
He couldn’t control his impulses for even five minutes and now she stood staring at him, loathing in her eyes.
The billionaire playboy scallywag blinked at her in a daze.
Scallywag. Yes, that fits perfectly.
There he stood, with his tie undone and shirt half unbuttoned, showing the world more expanse of rock hard chest than was appropriate at a charity ball. And don’t even get her started on the alligator cowboy boots. While always sexy, they didn’t belong paired with an Armani tuxedo.
Scallywag all the way.
She was having enough trouble dealing with her issues and now her misbehaving body. She didn’t need to see him half naked, looking so sexy.
Nor could she have him kissing her again. He was supposed to taste sour, or maybe like dirt-like a billionaire playboy scallywag–not all strong and hot, and, dammit, sexy. She sure as hell wasn’t going to allow him to make her another notch in his headboard.
El managed to successfully avoid the confounding man-child for the last ten minutes, since running from him on the dance floor–since ‘the kiss’. How the heck long did it take to find one old truck? She wanted to get out of there before Stefan found her and she couldn’t do that without Patricia.
Absently, she ran her finger across her bottom lip, reliving the shocking experience in her mind.
Dang it! Why does he have to taste so good and make my stomach flip?
He had held her close in his strong arms, against his amazing chest, his rippling muscles, all hard and hot and….
UGH! NO, NO, NO. Stupid body.
She didn’t date handsome men, or go near them, or like them. Period.
No man had ever made her so squishy and girly, not even Chet. It didn’t matter that Stefan was one hundred percent smoking hot male and he made her feel all soft and petite and feminine. Hell, she hadn’t been petite since she was six years old, and she sure wasn’t girly.
I refuse to let him get under my skin. She nodded to herself. No big deal, right? It was only a kiss, for goodness sakes. Call Pamela and move on.
“I thought the kiss was pretty mind blowing, too.”
Whirling around, she found Stefan standing behind her with a wicked gleam in his eyes. Before she could bolt, he pulled her in for another kiss.
The sudden impulse to escape became overpowering. It was vital, she make a break for it. She needed to get away from him.
“May I escort you to your truck, cher? You don’t have any shoes. Maybe I could carry you?” He didn’t want her to leave, at least not without him. Both he and his wolf needed her near. They needed a chance to adjust her poor opinion of him.
She shook her head. “I’m not falling for your Mr. Sweet Guy act again. I made that mistake once tonight, I won’t make it again. Please let go of me, and, for God’s sake, keep your lips to yourself.”
He had at least one more chance. She was required to have dinner with him. She didn’t have a choice.
“When can I take you to dinner?”
El refused to answer.
He had no choice but to watch her leave. His wolf howled in pain and the urge to stop her was almost more than he could bear.
Her taillights disappeared in the distance before he risked taking a step. He hadn’t dared, neither able to go back inside or to his own vehicle. He knew if he moved even one single step, he would have stopped her at all cost. And that cost was too high to chance.
The last place he wanted to be was his empty home. It had always felt so comfortable, the perfect bachelor’s pad. Only now he longed to share it with his mate. He had a lot of thinking to do and plans to make.
Marcus and Simon met him as he reentered the ballroom, both wearing matching sympathetic expressions, while Cade frowned at him from his table.
“Stefan, what the heck are you doing back here alone?” Marcus asked.
“El went home and won’t speak to me.”
“What the hell did you do?” Cade growled.
“I only kissed her,” he pleaded in his defense.
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Simon frowned. “So, why won’t she talk to you?”
“She doesn’t like me and got upset when I kissed her. But, to be totally honest, I think she’s more upset that she enjoyed it and was angry with herself when she got a bit hot and bothered. And for some reason, every time I try to get close she freaks out.”
“You’ve lost me,” Cade said.
“She knows my history with women and has labeled me–what did she call me? Oh, yeah, a billionaire playboy scallywag, and a man whore.”
“Ouch!” Marcus chimed in. “That’s cold.”
“Anyway, I think she’s more upset that she’s attracted to me than anything else. She doesn’t want to like me and yet wants me. Women are confusing.”
“What are you going to do?” Cade aske
d.
“I still get a dinner with her from the auction. I asked her out before she left, but she wouldn’t answer.”
“You could call her in the morning,” Marcus offered.
“The morning! Marcus, you’re brilliant.”
Marcus frowned at him. “What did I say?”
“Yeah, since when does he say anything brilliant?” Simon asked.
“She mentioned she had to fix a stall door tomorrow morning. I’ll go over early and fix it for her, and while I’m there I’ll set our dinner date.” Stefan looked very proud of himself and his plan.
“What’s your backup plan if that doesn’t work?” Marcus asked.
Stefan glowered. “You know, you’re suddenly not so brilliant.”
Cade barked out a laugh as Marcus looked at Stefan confused again, and Stefan pushed from the table. “Don’t forget, we have a meeting with Sam tomorrow to go over the construction progress.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Stefan groused as he walked away.
Chapter Eight
The Morning After
Snatching her cup from the kitchen table, she stomped across the living room to the huge picture window and scowled. Annoyance to the tenth degree interfered with her normal enjoyment of the spectacular view of rolling pastures.
Even her fingers were playing out her annoyance as they tapped an angry beat on the porcelain mug. Her eyes didn’t see the gorgeous sunrise greeting the day, or the frisky colt kicking up his heals on the ridge. Heck no, instead she had a vision of the aggravating gigolo who paid two hundred thousand dollars for her last night at the charity ball, replaying in her head for…oh, who knows, she lost count how many times. Her stupid mind was wreaking havoc with her normal daily routine over the events of last night and the situation she was now forced into.
Since graduating from college summa cum laude as a large animal veterinarian, she had been too busy to think about men. It had been what, eleven years since she had seen the gnat of a man who now was intruding on her peaceful world? He wanted to win her last night for some insane reason that eluded her. It didn’t matter how many times she replayed the events in her head, it still made zero sense.
