I studied botany at James Madison University, the campus farther south, where the werewolf attack changed my life forever. My dream at school was to someday own a nursery and landscaping company. Hope for a new life blossoms in me for the first time since leaving Canada. Maybe it was fate that brought me back to Virginia. “Does the diner keep a recent newspaper behind the counter?”
Chapter Three
I start work immediately with a local landscaper and am quickly promoted to leading a crew—my knowledge of plants and ability to speak Spanish the driving forces behind the advancement. Today is Friday and I plan to ask out the cute waitress for dinner. I had breakfast at the diner this morning, when she first arrived at work, so I know she’s got the evening shift off.
The bell over the door jingles when I enter, sending my nerves into overdrive. A warm smile lights Raine’s face when she sees me.
“Nice to see you again, Jon.” She glances at her watch. “My shift is almost over.” A faint flash of disappoint flashes over her features. “Damn. Looks like someone else will serve you.”
“I was hoping you might join me for dinner.” I clear my throat, nervous for the first time in months. “You know—someplace else—not here. Like a date.”
Raine glances down my body, noting my freshly changed clothes. “I’d like that, Jon.” The gleam in her eye turns predatory, triggering an answering heat low in my middle. “I’ve only got a casual sundress with me, is that okay?”
“You could be dressed in rags and I’d still be happy to take you out.”
“Aren’t you sweet.” She smiles, the humor only halfway reaching her eyes. “Give me ten minutes.”
The young Were retreats to the back hall where the employee lockers stand near the manager’s office. There was a lurking sadness in her eyes when she agreed to dinner. I hope over our meal I can coax out of her whatever brought it on. My wolf wants to make her mine, and the human part of me doesn’t quite know what to do with the new urges.
The noise of the Blue Ridge Grill fades into the background as I watch Raine polish off her second burger. “For a tiny little thing, you sure can keep up.” My face freezes in horror as I realize I just told the attractive woman I brought to dinner that she eats a lot.
Raine’s laughter trips from her lips in the first show of genuine humor I’ve seen from her all night. “Oh my God—you should see your face right now, Jon. Classic!” She wipes the tears from her eyes with the end of her napkin. “No one would accuse you of being a silver-tongued devil, that’s for sure.” She smiles to show she’s teasing then shrugs a slim shoulder under her pale blue sundress. “What can I say? I work so much it’s hard to keep the pounds on.” Her face sobers, the humor draining as fast as it came, and she looks away. “We do have an excellent metabolism.”
Something doesn’t add up. Waitressing might be hard work and a lot of hours on your feet, but a healthy werewolf who eats like she just did shouldn’t be waif-like thin. Maybe she has a second job. Trying to make ends meet on tips can’t be easy. Especially without a pack for support or a werewolf roomie to share the rent.
I want to ask how she’s doing financially, curious if she does indeed have a second job and why, but something holds me back. We don’t know each other well enough for me to start prying, and asking might scare her off. If I want to start over here in Virginia, I’ll need to slowly bring wolves to me, and that won’t happen if I come on too strong.
Slowly bring wolves to me? Where the hell are these thoughts coming from? That sounds a lot like alpha tendencies rearing an ugly head. Am I ready for my own pack? After Manitoba, I sure as hell don’t want to join another one. Could I become a true alpha and protect others of my kind?
The memories of Romeo—breaking up fights, mentoring others unhappy with their dual nature, and financially supporting ones who needed it—flare bright across my mind. We may have clashed, but he took good care of his wolves.
No, I’m not ready for another pack, even one of my own. Maybe that will change in the coming months, who knows.
After a moment, Raine’s tinge of sadness disappears and a slow seductive smile crosses her face. The sexual pheromones I’ve suppressed all week seep out little by little. There’s no denying that even sad, she’s delectable to my raging libido. Raine’s bare foot rubs my calf toward my knee. Instantly, the room narrows to the beguiling young woman and her seductive smile. Her arousal taints the air, calling me to act.
I reach across the distance between us and pull her slim fingers to my lips. “I could just eat you up.”
Her brows rise. “Really, now?” A saucy superiority burns from her eyes. “You sound suspiciously like the Big Bad Wolf hitting on Red Riding Hood.”
A sharp bark of laughter erupts from me, breaking the tension. I really suck at flirting. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.” Resigned to the fact we may not have any fun tonight if based on my flirting skills, and her wandering foot could be her way of teasing, I rise from the table and offer my hand. “Want to go out for a night cap or should you take me back to my jeep at the diner?”
“I know of a nice bar in downtown Leesburg.” She winks and takes my hand. “It’s not far.”
Hope stirs in my heart as we exit the restaurant. Maybe things are picking up.
An hour later in a dimly lit bar, there’s no way I’m mistaking Raine’s intentions. She’s been stroking my growing erection through my jeans for the last ten minutes. Randy bitch—and I say that with the utmost respect for the fascinating werewolf—just nibbled on my ear and told me to kiss her.
I stare into her midnight blue depths and whisper, “Not here.” I brush my lips faintly over hers, promising more to come in private. I’ve never been one for public displays of affection and I don’t want our first kiss to be surrounded by strangers.
She nods and stands, adjusting her dress as she rises. The shift of fabric releases her aroused scent into the air. A hard fist of want punches me in the gut, requiring me to use all the restraint I possess to not dart out the doors toward the parking lot, dragging the tempting woman with me.
The steady sexual partners available in a large wolf pack are both a curse and a blessing. On one hand, having an increased libido and a host of willing single partners is great. On the other, trying to establish any kind of true intimacy or a real relationship is next to impossible.
Maybe that’s why many Weres find their life mates outside their pack. Summer hunting expeditions, the rare regional pack gatherings I’ve heard tales of, or dating humans seem to be the best way to find a lifelong mate. No one ever mentioned the idea of two loners, like me and Raine, hooking up—but it certainly seems possible now that I’m living it.
The late May night wraps it’s moist hold around us as we exit the bar and make our way to Riane’s car. Short pants of breath reach my ears in the dark, indicating she’s as turned on as I am at the prospect of being together. Her warm hand links with mine as hot coils of anticipation writhe in my gut.
Raine tugs our clasped hands, changing our direction from her car door to the nose of her vehicle, where the shadows from the building lie deep. She presses my back against the wood siding, leaning in to kiss me. Our raging desires, carefully held in check inside the bar, explode. Her hot mouth latches onto mine as her soft body molds to my front.
Eager hands reach under my t-shirt, lingering over my abs on their path upward. Raine breaks our kiss, whispering in a husky voice, “My, my, my, Jon.” Her nimble fingers find my hardened nipples and she tweaks them with a twist. “You’re hiding quite a nice body under here.”
Heat races over me, along with a flash of Lori touching me like this a mere two weeks ago. I clasp her hands, settling mine firmly over hers to help block the unwanted memories. “What do you expect from a man who works outside for a living? A soft body and pasty complexion?”
The sexy Were nips my bottom lip lightly. “I guess I wasn’t expecting you to be so… hard.” Her hand slips free of my hold and skims down to cup
my erection through my pants.
A soft growl erupts from me as I pivot, reversing our position and pinning her supple body to the wall. “You like to move fast, don’t you, Raine?” I press forward with my hips, rubbing my arousal against her middle, effectively pushing her hand away as well.
I bow to gently bite the tender flesh between her ear and shoulder. “All ‘pretty in pink’ in that waitress outfit…” Another nip to her heated flesh draws a gasp from the young woman. “I never would’ve expected the fire…”
She reaches two hands to grab my hair, pulling me up to her mouth. “Well then, Jon, looks like you underestimated me.” Raine plasters her mouth to mine, ratcheting up my already raised hormones. Lust courses through me, pushing to barrel ahead, to take her—wherever she wants me—even if it’s in a parking lot.
In a few moments our kiss breaks, leaving us both panting and grasping at the other’s body, desperate to rein our passion despite the waves of desire crashing over us. “Want to come back to my place?” she asks. There’s a desperate edge to her voice that gives me pause. “It’s out past Purcellville.”
It would be so easy to take her offer. To follow her the distance to wherever she lives and make love to her all night. But things went fast with Lori, too. And look where that got me—dangling on the end of her raw sex appeal and oblivious to her baser nature of a two-timing horny Were.
I take a small step back and reach up to cup Raine’s cheeks in my hands. “Would you hate me if I said ‘no’?” Confusion mixes with the lust in her eyes. “I like you, Raine.” I kiss her again. “I want to go slow.”
Her spine straightens. “Uh… what?” She makes a last grab for my pants. “You want me. Why deny it?” She wraps a hot hand over me and begins to stroke. “We can make all the noise we want and no one will hear us.” A cold, evaluating look comes into her eyes, making me wonder why she’s so desperate for my attention.
I kiss her once more, ignoring the warning bells that she could be another manipulating she-wolf out to break my heart, and pour my pent up sexual frustration into the kiss before I break away. “I definitely want you.” My breath pants in the darkness as I seek her eyes in the dim light. “You know that, right? You deserve more than a night of lust on our first date—we deserve more.” Her calculating look fades, to be replaced by one of disbelief. “I want to make a life here, and I’d like to see if that can be a life that has you in it for longer than just a few hours of sex.”
Raine slumps against the wall, her aggression and passion draining out of her at my words. “Wow, you really know how to take the wind out of a girl’s sail—but, in a classy sort of way.” She runs a hand through her short hair, pushing it back from her face. A small smile lights her features in the night. “At least I know you want me and it could lead to more.”
“What do you say?” I can’t believe I’m talking this woman out of jumping my bones, but until I get to know her better, it’s for the best. “Want to go on a second date?”
Her face closes and she looks into the distance. “Sure. I might be up for a going out again.”
Chapter Four
Next week I ask her out again. “How about it, Riane? Ready for date number two?” I wiggle my eyebrows suggestively, hoping to make her smile.
She’s been distant the past few days when I visited the diner to eat. Something has changed on her end, and I’m not sure what.
Her eyes dart away before she answers. “Sorry, Jon, I’m busy tonight.”
My stomach plummets. “How about tomorrow?”
A sadness creeps into her gaze as she shakes her head. “I’m busy all weekend. Sorry.”
I nod as she leaves to wait on a customer, taking her refusal like an adult, but curious to find out what happened. She was climbing all over me last Friday. It makes no sense.
I’ve eaten at the diner every day, even if Raine wasn’t working. Some days we don’t get to do more than exchange a few pleasantries, but it’s worth it. Being in her presence soothes me. I’ve never been away from other wolves for this long and hadn’t realized how much I needed her companionship.
Last week our flirting was intense. But I was still two raw from Lori’s betrayal to want to leap into anything—did I screw things up by waiting too long to ask her out again? Getting to know her through casual conversation felt refreshing, something I lacked with every other wolf I’d been with prior.
I wasn’t ready to follow through on the lust we explored on our first date. But now I am. I’ve rented a small apartment and acquired some decent furnishings. I have the beginnings of my own den to share. We may not turn into anything permanent, but I aim to find out.
There’s something about the young woman that calls to me. Resigned to the fact she said no for tonight, I grab a free spot at the counter and settle in for dinner. Determined to not act like a jerk, I wave to the young Were when she glances my way. Her shoulders relax and her face softens. She’s pinned her short dark hair behind her ears with butterfly barrettes, the style making her look even younger than her twenty-one years.
Unlike the robust health and curves of Lori, and most of the other female Weres in Manitoba, Raine has a delicacy to her. I’m not normally attracted to overly slender women, but she pulls my protective alpha nature to the surface. I want to coddle and cosset her, protect her from harm and wrap myself around her while she sleeps.
Every time she walks past me, my wolf leaps to the surface, eager to rub against her for companionship. I like this casual state of arousal I’m in when around her. My senses feel heightened and the world looks fresher. Is it being free from the burden of the Manitoba pack or the stirrings of what will be a brighter future here in Virginia?
My meal arrives and the smell of homemade cobbler drifting from the kitchen reminds me of home with my folks. Could I approach them now that I’m stronger and no longer a risk to their safety? Was Romeo’s suggestion of severing all contact with family truly the only option available? I tamp down the slow burn of anger coiling in my gut. No purpose in dwelling on the past.
Raine’s eyes lock with mine across the length of the counter. She’s pouring coffee for a patron, allowing her attention to wander my way. I deliberately focus on lustful thoughts, encouraging my sexual pheromones to blanket the air. Raine becomes distracted by the scent, and over pours, spilling coffee to the saucer below the cup.
Her face flushes while she reaches for extra napkins, her eyes flick my way, a desperate edge in their depths. She finishes cleaning and scurries to the back room, avoiding me. Interesting reaction. I wonder what has her so jumpy. Female Weres don’t normally react to an alpha’s heat by running away. Within a few heartbeats everyone near me is smiling, their sexual energies higher than normal. I tone down the pressure; worried I may have overplayed my hand.
She’s a tough nut to crack.
Are you going to let a scrumptious werewolf ripe for the picking slip from your grasp so easily?
Damn. I’m used to female werewolves chasing me. This hard-to-get crap is a whole new experience, especially after her blatant invitation in the parking lot.
You could have bruised her ego when you turned her down.
But then why the flirting since then?
Are you an alpha or a puppy? Show her what you want.
Decision made, I toss my napkin on my plate and make my way to the back hallway. The tingling awareness of hunting prey stretches across my skin, enticing my wolf to draw closer to the surface. This is fun.
Wait a minute—there’s a back door at the end of the corridor I was unaware of. Hmm… I wonder if she was planning to slip out unseen to avoid me. Definitely time to find out what the hell is going on.
The ladies room door opens three feet away and Raine emerges. She’s changed into a snug pair of hip-hugging jeans and a tight t-shirt. A strip of honey colored skin is exposed between the two, the flat planes of her stomach teasing me to touch. A small squeak escapes her when she sees me.
I push out sexual lust w
hen I whisper her name. “Hi, Raine.” She shudders at the sound. “You weren’t going to ditch me without saying goodnight, were you?”
She stumbles away to press against the rear door. “Uh… no. I have to be somewhere.” Her breath huffs out, her gaze sliding away from me, to her escape.
I nod, shifting position against the wall, bringing her attention back to me without having to step any closer. “You seem to be avoiding me lately. Then the refusal for another date. What’s going on?”
The scent of her arousal drifts in the air toward me, proving she’s not as unaffected by me as she’d like me to believe. “Can you tone down the sexual vibe?” Her voice cracks with the strain. “I’m barely hanging by a thread, here.”
Immediately I cut off the outpouring of pheromones. The air clears in the space of a few heartbeats. “Done. Now, come clean. I know you’re interested and yet you’ve refused me for a second date. Did you lie about having a boyfriend?”
A shadow crosses her face. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend, that was true. I just changed my mind about going out with you again so soon.”
Her puckered nipples strain against the tight fabric of her shirt. Her breasts are small enough that she doesn’t need a bra. Not wearing one works to my advantage—she can’t hide her response to me.
A slow smile spreads across my mouth. I glance down at her chest and back up, purposely calling attention to her arousal. “Really? Your body begs to differ.”
Heat suffuses her cheeks. She shrugs and her tone comes out flat. “We can’t always get what we want.”
I push off the wall and cross the hall to stand in front of her. “What happened, Raine? Last week you invited me back to your place.”
Her eyes flick to the door again, her discomfort at my nearness quite clear. “And you refused!” One tiny hand comes to my chest, halting my advance when I would have pressed against her. “It turned out to be for the best.” Her face shuts down. “I need to go.”
Death's Servant (The V V Inn, First Prequel Book) Page 2
