Authors: Loribelle Hunt
Wrapping her legs around his waist, she prepared to hang on for a wild ride and titled her head back to lick the cleft in his chin. She loved the rasp of his stubble-covered face, how it contrasted with his smooth body. He moved in slow, deep thrusts that hit her G-spot every time. As turned on as she was, by the third contact she was keening, an orgasm ripping through her. Her body seemed to clench and contract around him, unwilling to release his as he thrust through her resistance. She was in the throes of her second orgasm when he came with a roar that echoed in her ears. It touched a cord in her soul.
Something she recognized in her sated state as the bond that stretched between them.
Releasing her hands, Jackson rolled to his side and pulled her close to him.
My God, the woman
is going to kill me.
Struggling to regain his breath and regulate his heartbeat, he buried his face in her hair. He wanted to enjoy the moment—it would be time to face the music soon enough.
He felt a twinge of guilt for the deception involved in getting her here, for binding them without her consent. Was this a kind of rape? Her body was willing, but mentally? Emotionally? She was so not with him. Worse, he’d brought her into the pack at a dangerous time. Forces moved against him and as much as they tried, he, Billy, and Clint weren’t able to determine exactly from where the danger came.
He shifted and a sharp pain in his side—the wound from the last challenge—made itself known. Thank God for the healing powers of the werewolf or where would he be now? Six feet under probably.
Summer turned in his arms and her hand came up to the talisman around his neck. He couldn’t read her expression, and that worried him. A tomblike quiet fell over the room.
“Meg, I’m betting,” she said.
He sighed. “You backed me into a corner, Summer. And your cousins just want to see you happy.”
He apparently struck a raw nerve because defensively, she said, “I’m happy. Who said I wasn’t happy? That’s ridiculous.”
He snorted. “Yeah, that’s why you’ve spent the last few months practically begging for more work.” She closed her fist around the talisman. She gasped and tugged at it.
Thank God, for titanium
.
“You’re Hardy,” she accused.
“Guilty.”
With a small sound of disgust, she released her grip then jumped up from the bed to pace across the room. He grinned, arms crossed under his head, and watched. Her breasts, round and pert, nipples hard in the cool air, bounced as she walked, and her long black hair swirled around her waist with each pivot. He couldn’t help the growl of appreciation that rumbled up from his chest. He quickly evened his features to a bland expression when she stopped to glare at him.
A soft knock rapped against the door on the opposite wall, and Billy’s voice rang out. “Boss?
You available?”
He sighed and stood up. “Just a second, Billy.”
As he strode to the armoire that spread across most of one wall, he noticed Summer’s eyes widen. In appreciation? God, he hoped so. He certainly appreciated her walking around naked.
Grabbing a long-sleeved flannel shirt, he tossed it to her and turned to find a faded pair of Levi’s. After pulling them on, he turned to see her still watching him, the shirt clutched in front of her chest.
“Babe, much as I love that gorgeous body, we’re fixing to have company. I’d hate to have to rip Billy’s eyes out for ogling you.” He tried to make it a joke but couldn’t quite keep the edge out of his voice.
She covered her startled look quickly and shrugged into the shirt, fingers fumbling as she hurried to button it up. Looking up, she met his gaze. “Where are my things?”
“Knowing Billy, in the office next door waiting to come in.” He laughed. “That kid is always one step ahead of the rest of us.”
She arched her eyebrows and waited for him to continue, but he just shook his head and turned the doorknob. Stepping back, he let her walk through first, the smell of French Vanilla coffee assaulting his nostrils. Summer accepted the steaming mug Billy handed her and eyed them both warily over its edge. Jackson couldn’t help but smile. Suspicious to the end.
“No, it’s not drugged,” he said. “You must have mentioned at some point that you liked that stuff.
Billy here is a details man.”
Instead of replying, she walked around the large room, fingers trailing the edge of his spacious desk before she settled in a leather wing chair by the window and stared out. He cocked his head to the side, anger stirring through him. Was he getting the silent treatment? Billy looked between the two of them and opened his mouth to speak. Jackson shook his head, and he snapped it shut.
At the sideboard near the door, he poured a cup of hot tea and carried it back to the desk. Billy took his usual place before him, folding his tall lanky body into the empty chair, feet widespread and hands resting across the seat’s arms. Jackson sighed and took a long swallow of the mint tea.
Ah, the
morning routine. The calm before the storm.
Billy gave him time to drain the cup and refill it before diving in.
“There was another incident while we were gone. Three of McGarvey’s herd, and he’s blaming you for not catching this guy. Grumbling about incompetence. Actually, I heard quite a bit of that from the usual suspects this morning.”
Billy shifted and rested one ankle on the opposite knee. In a man who was normally very still, Jackson recognized it as a sign of agitation. He frowned and waited in the silence for Billy to go on.
When he didn’t, Jackson answered, “They’re welcome to challenge me if they think they can do better.” Sputtered coughing erupted from the chair by the window. Jumping to his feet, he rounded the corner of his desk but was brought up short by the sight of her. Her eyes glowed and she radiated anger as she stalked toward him.
“Are you okay, Summer?” he asked cautiously, forcibly reminded that this was no ordinary woman. The granddaughter of a powerful witch and a Hunter werewolf, she had plenty of power of her own. He held his ground, though the temptation to step back was strong. He was Alpha here, damn it.
He wouldn’t be intimidated by a witch, especially one that was his mate.
Billy edged nervously closer, but he warned him off with a flick of his wrist. Let them have this out now. Whatever
this
was.
When she reached him, she lifted his arm and ran her fingers along his most recently acquired scar. Despite her anger, the fingers were feather soft, and his body responded. She noticed, cutting her gaze to the bulge in his jeans, then glaring back up at him. They seemed to telegraph her message for her.
And if he read it right, it said,
no way bubba
.
When she spoke, her voice was low and husky, a thread of violence in the controlled tone.
“When did this happen?”
He sighed. “Last week.”
“And this one?” Her hand rested on an older scar across his back.
“Last month,” he answered, covering her hand with his and pulling it around to another across his chest. “And this one was a couple of months ago.”
“This is why you didn’t come after me. You couldn’t without risking control of the pack.” He gritted his teeth and bit back a sharp retort. How dare she question his control of the pack?
She’d done her damnedest not to be involved with him, with them, and now she had an opinion?
“This is a way of life for us. You’ll get used to it.”
Her eyes blazed at him and narrowed. “No, it’s not. I study wolves, remember? Wolves
and
werewolves. An early challenge or two is typical. This late in the game? Not so normal,” she ended sarcastically.
The thing that glared like a neon challenge in that statement was
study werewolves
. What the fuck did she mean by that? His hackles rose and a growl rumbled deep in his throat. He felt calmness move through him as he developed purpose and turned the tables on her.
Something flickered in her eyes, maybe fear, and she took a step backwards. He followed and they repeated the dance until her back was to the wall and his body pressed tight against hers. Despite his anger, his cocked throbbed at the contact. After he dealt with his rebellious mate, Billy would have to leave for an hour or two.
“Study werewolves?” he asked, voice deceptively composed. It wouldn’t do to let her see the storm that raged through him at her words. “Don’t you think that’s a little dangerous?” Try a lot dangerous. If anyone caught her… He shuddered. She could have been lost to him forever. That fear must have shown on his face. Her eyes widened, and she reached a hand up to smooth his brow. Her hand trembled slightly, and she seemed to shrink into the wall.
“Not since I met you,” she whispered bitterly. “I was too afraid you might have people looking for me.”
She shifted against the wall. Her pelvis lifted against his and the smell of her arousal flooded his senses.
Amazing
. His cock actually got harder. Searching her eyes, he pushed back into her, wondering if she had made the move on purpose, to try and distract him, or was she simply fidgeting under his scrutiny.
Behind him, Billy cleared his throat. Jackson jerked his head around and met his gaze. His expression seemed to telegraph one message loud and clear—they had work to do. Sighing, Jackson slowly peeled away from his alluring, though less than welcoming, mate and returned to his desk.
She clung to the wall for a moment before making a cautious approach and took the seat next to Billy. Her face was flushed, breathing less even than usual, but otherwise she appeared to take the encounter in stride. His molars ground again. And why wouldn’t she, if she had made it a point to study werewolves? He glared at her over the desk.
“We’ll discuss that study in more depth later,” he promised.
She actually had the gall to roll her eyes. He took a deep, cleansing breath. Later. He’d deal with her later. It was enough that he had her and she was listening for the moment, right?
Actually, that alone
is a hell of a lot of progress.
“Did you go out to McGarvey’s?” he asked.
This time it was Billy’s jaw that hardened as he nodded a reply. “Nothing. But the place had been pretty well trampled by the time I got there. In a pack this size, it’s not unusual to be unable to pick out every smell.”
“Maybe,” Jackson answered. “But there have been too many scenes where none of us could pick out the scent of the attacker. It has to be one of the pack.” Summer’s teeth caught her bottom lip, the action bringing his already heated blood to a boil before he realized she did it to hold back a comment.
“What?” he snapped.
“How many incidents? How long has this been going on?”
He debated how much to tell her, and she glared at him.
“You brought me here. I might as well know what I’m in for.” Surprised at her perception, he fingered the talisman around his neck and wondered if she could read minds.
She rolled her eyes again, this time adding a head shake. “Yes, it works. That doesn’t mean I can
’t read your expression.”
If he was so easy to read he had some serious work to do. More than likely, though, she was just attuned to him already. That thought pleased him more than the alternative.
Impatient, she prodded him. “Well?”
He looked over and caught Billy hiding a smirk.
Just you wait, Billy Cagle. Your time will
come.
“From the beginning,” he answered Summer. “Always on one of the outlying properties.” He explained that the pack owned several thousand acres of wooded land high in the Smoky Mountains. The attacks were always on livestock, never humans or werewolves. Definitely not the behavior of a rogue. More likely it was someone from another pack trying to sow enough discord to weaken his hold and challenge him. Or maybe his own pack. Someone who didn’t stand out. It would be very tricky for an outsider to attempt to take over such a large pack, but it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. He left that part out of his explanation to her. She didn’t seem all that sure of his abilities as it was.
With a heavy sigh she stood and walked to the window. Her face was in profile as she looked out over the back deck, wearing a brooding expression. Silence stretched over the room while he and Billy waited her out.
“Sounds like you could use the services of a good witch,” she finally said. She turned to look over her shoulder, meeting his gaze, a calculating look in her eyes.
What was she up to? His pulse quickened at the challenge. He should be angry or upset that she wasn’t falling right in line with his plans. Instead he was intrigued. Maybe a little charmed. Definitely challenged. She wouldn’t be easy to win over but damn, would she be worth the effort.
He raised an eyebrow. “What did you have in mind?”
She shrugged one shoulder, a casual gesture, as if she were asking for the simplest thing in the world. The action put his guard up.
“I just want to continue my studies. I can do that just as easily here as anywhere else. But to do it I need to be able to wander around freely. With my senses, you never know what I might learn.” His reaction was immediate and instinctive.
Hell no!
But he watched her as she delivered the suggestion and saw she expected it. He managed to bite his tongue on the retort, simply shaking his head in denial while he tried to frame something she would recognize as a reasonable, coherent response. He couldn’t come up with one.
“No.”
“No? Just…no? Surely you can do better than that, Jackson.” She stood in front of the window and put her fisted hands on her hips, the glow from the rising sun creating a halo around her. Glowering at him, she radiated outrage, and he was amazed to feel his first sense of rightness in weeks. He smirked at her.
“Just no.” He stood and walked around to lean against the front corner of his desk, glancing at Billy and nodding toward the hall door. “Billy. I’ll catch up with you later.” He took the hint and hurried from the room.
Probably wise enough to get out of the way
before the she really sees red.
Thin lipped, Summer watched Billy’s retreat. When the door clicked shut, she paced forward and stopped in front of him. His breath caught in his throat. She was magnificent.