The orgasm slammed into her, pleasure overtaking everything as she gripped his head, holding onto him so she wouldn’t collapse. She tried to bite back her shouts, but couldn’t restrain her cries. The moans fell freely from her lips as the pleasure rocked through her. She wasn’t sure how long it lasted, but it seemed to go on forever until her knees weakened. Feeling almost boneless, she could barely move as the last of her climax subsided.
Still kneeling, Max withdrew his fingers as he stared up at her. His pale eyes flashed with hunger as he slid his fingers into his mouth, licking them clean. Despite what they’d just shared she felt her face flame at the erotic action.
She reached for his face, cupping his cheek and jaw, needing to touch him. To her surprise, he leaned into her touch, rubbing against her. Her heart squeezed at the sweet show of tenderness. His stubble was rough against her palm and she savored the sensation of stroking his face.
Though she wanted to take off his boxers, she was afraid he’d stop her again. Before she could decide if she wanted to try, he blindly reached for the shower handle and turned it off.
When the water stopped flowing, the only sound left was their erratic breathing. Max moved with supernatural speed, scooping her off her feet and into his arms, cradling her against his bare chest. She savored the feel of his skin against hers, the strength he radiated, as she wrapped an arm around his neck.
He nuzzled the sensitive spot behind her ear as he wordlessly stepped from the shower. They were soaking and dripping everywhere but he didn’t seem to notice and she didn’t care. She just hoped he would let her strip off those boxers once they made it to a bed because there was no way they were done for the night.
Bypassing the guest room, Max strode down the hall to his room with Lauren in his arms. He wanted her scent all over his sheets, his room, and him. Everyone would be able to scent her on him and know he was taken. Max laid Lauren out on his king-sized bed, savoring the sight of her there.
Petite and lean with a perfectly bronzed body, he wanted to kiss every inch of her. After feeling her come on his fingers and tongue, he wanted to experience her coming around his cock, to feel her tightening and climaxing around him as she shouted his name. And he wanted to bury himself balls deep inside her, pumping into her until he was completely sated. He could barely think as he stripped his boxers off.
Blindly he threw them through the open door of his bathroom. He heard them land with a wet smack against the tile before he knelt on the end of the bed. Light from the slightly parted window blinds was their only illumination. Not that he needed it with his supernatural eyesight, but with the moonlight bathing her in a soft glow, she looked like a goddess stretched out for him to feast on.
“You waiting for a written invitation, wolf?” she practically purred, her dark eyes flashing to her jaguar for a moment before turning back.
Not trusting his voice, he let out a low growl. His cock felt like a club between his legs. He ached to completely claim her even if that was way too soon. He couldn’t bite her, marking her for all to know she was his, but he wanted his scent all over her, his cock buried deep inside her. It was a primal need to imprint her with his scent.
He wanted her to be branded by him, to know she belonged to him. And vice versa. He wanted Lauren’s scent deep in his skin so that all he smelled was her. This wasn’t just the most intense attraction he’d ever felt. It was the mating call.
He knew it in a bone deep way and accepted it. He didn’t care if she was a jaguar and he was a wolf. It was uncommon in the shifter world for different species to mate, but they could make this work. Yeah, they needed to get to know each other a hell of a lot better, but his wolf had already accepted her. On the most primal level possible, his animal knew what he wanted and would accept no other female. That was the most important thing.
As he started to crawl up the bed, a predator intent on claiming his prey, Lauren let her thighs fall open, exposing her mound and that delicious amber and vanilla scent. The soft hair on her pussy was a shade darker than the hair on her head and was trimmed into a perfect little strip. He was tempted to taste her again, but right now he needed inside her like he needed his next breath. The thought of feeling her tight sheath clenching around him made him shudder in anticipation.
When he settled between her legs and dragged one finger down the length of her wet slit, she shuddered and arched her back. Pushing his finger inside her, he closed his eyes when he felt how wet she was. This was going to be heaven.
Bang, bang, bang.
His eyes flew open and Lauren straightened, inadvertently pulling away from him when she sat up. Someone was pounding against his front door. For the most part these condos had extra insulation because of their sensitive hearing and all the front doors were steel reinforced. Whoever was pounding wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“It’s almost four in the morning,” Lauren murmured as she brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “Is that normal?”
Frowning, Max shook his head. “No.” Most of his pack members would just call if there was an issue. Annoyance settled over him. Ever since Grant had left, it was like half the pack had forgotten how to take care of their own problems. Either that or Grant dealt with more than Max had ever realized.
Max grabbed a pair of boxers from one of his dresser drawers and tried to will his cock to go down. “I’ll be right back. Someone better be dead or dying,” he muttered as he left.
He could hear the sheets rustle as Lauren got out of his bed, but he hurried down the hall as the incessant banging continued. When he neared the front door he scented four different packmates, including a male he didn’t care for. Max immediately tensed. For the most part he got along with everyone in his pack, but Wade Burks was a pain in the ass. Grant had taken him and his sister in about two years ago and the guy just rubbed Max the wrong way. There better be a damn good reason for him to be at his place this early in the morning, especially because they’d just interrupted him and Lauren.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled the door open to find Wade, his sister Naomi, and Sapphire and Charlie from the bar standing there. Still wearing the same clothes they’d had on earlier, Sapphire and Charlie looked grim, but Wade and his sister just looked pissed.
“What’s going on?” Max asked, keeping his voice as calm as possible. Whatever it was, it was clear he’d need a level head.
“Your bitch robbed us,” Wade growled.
Max didn’t even realize he’d reacted until his fist connected with Wade’s face. The crunch of the other shifter’s nose breaking against his hand was a jolt to Max’s system. With an enraged snarl Wade flew back through the air and slammed against the outer hallway wall.
He pushed up but before he could make a move toward Max, Charlie smoothly stepped in between them. “I think what Wade means is that while he and Naomi were watching Grant’s house,
someone
slipped in and tripped the silent alarm on the safe. Now the brooch is missing.”
“Well it wasn’t Lauren.” Though he was still raging inside, Max kept his wolf in check. He could scent and hear Lauren behind him. Sure she’d been with him, but he knew she wouldn’t have done this. She had no reason to since she was getting the jewels in a week. But it was more than that. Her quick offer to help out at the bar had been so selfless and he knew it was because she’d been feeling guilt over breaking in to Grant’s place. She wanted those jewels for her sister and he understood wanting to look out for family.
“I’m sure it wasn’t, but maybe one of her pridemates is behind this?” Naomi asked, her voice even, unlike her hostile brother. She looked angry but was at least acting civil. Her eyes narrowed a fraction as they landed somewhere behind him.
Lauren strode up wearing one of his T-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants. Both were too big on her, but she looked…adorable. And he liked seeing her in his clothes, being covered by his scent. With her, she brought the scent of sex, something the others wouldn’t be able to miss. Whatever anyone had thought about her staying under his roof and then his display of aggression at the bar, now it was confirmed that they were sleeping together. Or they would be soon.
Max reached out to wrap his arm around Lauren’s shoulders, a silent claiming his packmates couldn’t misunderstand. She stepped into his embrace, sliding her arm around his waist, but didn’t look at him. She pinned Naomi with a hard stare. “What’s this crap about my pridemates being behind something?” It didn’t matter that she was nearly a foot shorter than the woman, Lauren looked and sounded intimidating.
Naomi held up her hands and shrugged as Wade growled curses under his breath. Before either could speak, Charlie interjected again, always the voice of reason. “As you know, they were guarding the house tonight.”
“Not very well,” Max growled. After the incident with Lauren’s break-in, everyone was on rotation to guard the alpha’s house. They normally had patrols anyway, but he’d stationed packmates in the house. “And why are you and Sapphire here?”
Charlie shrugged. “We were on our way back from the bar when we saw them heading over here. Thought we’d tag along.”
Max’s gaze narrowed on Wade. “Who’s watching Grant’s house now?”
Wade paled slightly. “Well, no one.”
Max gritted his teeth and forced himself not to lash out at their stupidity. He needed facts before he could react. “First, what was taken from the safe?”
“
Just
the brooch,” Naomi said, her voice almost smug as she shot Lauren a look.
“Did you at least close the safe before coming over here?”
Wade let out a low growl. “Yes.”
Max scrubbed a hand over his face. That safe was state of the art with multiple sensors and a backup alarm trigger. And it wasn’t visible unless you knew where to look. It wasn’t as if the pack kept everything in there. Hell no. Everyone safeguarded their own valuables however they saw fit whether by keeping them in a bank or in their home, but Grant kept some of their pricier belongings close by. “I need to check out the scene.” So he could pick up whatever scent was left over. Max was damn good at tracking and he just hoped he didn’t scent any of Lauren’s pridemates. “You two are coming with me because I want to hear exactly how you missed someone breaking into the house,” he said pointedly to Wade and Naomi.
“I’ll tell you how. Her pridemates—”
“My pridemates didn’t do anything, you liar.” Lauren growled low in her throat and Max could feel her trying to control her temper.
Max squeezed her shoulder and nodded at Charlie and Sapphire. “I want you two to stand guard out here, but give me a second.” Without waiting for a response, he shut the door so he could have some privacy with Lauren.
The second it closed, she whirled on him. “I didn’t do anything. I’ve been with you the whole time.”
“I
know
.” He didn’t doubt that for a second. But her pride was a different story. “Is it possible one of your pridemates did this?”
She blinked, her dark eyes stunned and…hurt. The sight of that sliced through him. “Are you seriously asking me that?”
“I have to look at every angle.” And he hated that he did.
“I told you they’ve left the area. I’ve talked to my cousins about this—twice—and they would never betray me. Not when I’m basically in enemy territory.”
“Enemy territory?” he growled, not liking the sound of that. He didn’t care if wolves and jaguars were technically enemies—or that Lauren was
technically
Max’s prisoner. He wasn’t her enemy.
“You know what I mean!”
Yeah, he knew. Still, it was possible someone had acted rashly. Max didn’t know her pridemates.
As if she read his train of thought, she glared. “They would never take them. Not when it would be leaving me to fend for myself.” Her gaze completely shuttered then. “Go look at the crime scene. Just don’t expect me to be in your bed when you get back. I’ll be in the guest room, as your prisoner.” At that, she turned on her heel and strode down the hall with her head held high.
Max wanted to go after her, to iron all this out, but he didn’t have time. If those two idiots hadn’t left the house unguarded he could, but right now he needed to make sure nothing else of value was taken from their pack and to catch the scent trail before it went cold.
Letting out a savage curse, he followed after her, but only to throw clothes on. True to her word, she headed to the guestroom and shut the door behind her. He heard the lock click before he stalked to his bedroom and quickly dressed. Even though he wanted to stay and talk with her, he didn’t have the luxury of time. Forcing his expression to remain blank, he opened the front door and slammed it shut behind him. Okay, the slam was childish, he just didn’t care. “Let’s go,” he ordered, not waiting to see if they followed.
Right now he should be balls deep inside the sexiest woman he’d ever met. Not dealing with the incompetence of two of his packmates. He was seriously counting down the days until Grant returned from his honeymoon. Sometimes being second-in-command sucked.
Max stood in the middle of Grant’s office, visually scanning the nearly undisturbed room while he tried to decipher the various scents. Grant’s scent was embedded in the room and his mate, Talia’s scent, was faint. He could still smell Lauren too, but it was faded, not recent. And it was very faint. Other than those and Wade and Naomi’s nothing else was strong enough to stand out.