“No.” She started to stand up, but he stood over her. She could feel his breath on her cheek when he nudged her shoulder. Every part of her body tensed, but it wasn’t from fear. She was as sexually aroused as she’d ever been. “Step back.”
Take off your clothes for me. My wolf, he wants to taste his mate.
Her body seemed to have heated everywhere, especially between her legs. When he shifted on his feet and buried his nose in her crotch, instead of pushing him away, Jack found herself opening her legs wider for him.
Let him taste your pussy. Let him lap at you until you come down his throat. Then I’ll do the same. Eat you until you scream out my name.
“He can’t want to taste me. I’m a person.” Luke growled low, and she moaned. “This is sick. Animals don’t have sex with humans.” But the more she lay there with his head between her legs, the wetter she could feel herself getting. Finally, she lay back and bent her knees and opened her legs wider. The big wolf nipped at her so hard she came, and she had to have more.
Taking off her pants was hard. The wolf wouldn’t move back, and every time he touched the skin she uncovered, he nipped at her. She was panting, almost as hard as he was, when she was naked from the waist down. As soon as she lay back, the wolf buried his mouth over her and entered her with his tongue. Jack came screaming and holding onto his fur so tightly that she was sure she’d hurt him. But he continued to eat her through two more of the most earth shattering climaxes she’d ever had. Then Luke was suddenly there.
He didn’t say a word as he lowered his head to her pussy. His tongue circled her clit twice before he suckled it hard. She screamed again as he slid his fingers into her. Jack was riding his mouth and hand so hard that she was surprised that he didn’t get bucked off. Then he started up her body, leaving her wanting, and her need so profound that she was sobbing for him to take her.
Nothing could have prepared her for the way her body reacted to him entering her. She felt his cock, thick and long, move into her sheath as if he were filling her. She’d had sex before but nothing, no man, had filled her like he was. And it wasn’t just her pussy but her entire body.
“This doesn’t change anything.” He laughed as he ripped his shirt off her and took her nipple, just the tip, into his mouth. As he fucked her, slow, long strokes, she wrapped her legs around his waist and rose up to meet each of his downward slides. She couldn’t believe she needed to come after the amazing climaxes she’d just had.
“Come for me, love. Wrap your sheath tightly around me and milk my cock of all my seed.” He didn’t order her to come but begged her. She felt her body bow up off the ground and simply come apart for him. As soon as he bit into her shoulder, she came again and sank her own teeth into him. He roared out his release even as he pounded into her, his cum hot as it splashed deep inside of her. Jack knew that for as long as she lived, this would be a memory that she’d hold close to her. She had no idea why, but she just knew that it would.
~~~
He had to walk naked back to where he’d entered the woods. Jack had left him in a huff, but all he could think about was how much he’d needed her, and how much she’d seemed to need him. Luke was pulling his jacket over his head when Hunter spoke to him through their link.
Your mate is here. And she’s pissed off. What the hell did you do to her?
Luke didn’t answer, but Hunter seemed to have understood.
Ah. I see. And during this time in the woods, you never thought to tell her that you had clothing sent for her.
Fuck.
Hunter laughed again.
She’s going to be pissed even more when she finds out that I’ve ordered more for her and that it’ll be delivered today. Do you think you could tell her for me?
He didn’t expect Hunter to do it and wasn’t surprised when he told him hell no. He thought about his dad but decided against that. His father was a great man and a huge flirt. Luke didn’t know how he’d feel if his mate liked his dad more than she did him. And right now, Luke knew that she pretty much hated him.
I don’t know what do to.
Hunter said he understood his frustrations.
What am I supposed to do with her? The sex is fucking fantastic and she seems to enjoy it. Christ, does she enjoy it; but that’s all we have right now. I don’t know what to do with her or for her.
It’s enough for now.
Luke didn’t think so but got into his car to drive back to the office. He’d been gone much longer than he’d expected, but it had been worth it.
But she does need to get this settled in her mind that she’s a wolf forever. She asked Slone if it was true. She told her it was, but Slone didn’t think she believed her. Perhaps you two could…I don’t know, date or something.
Date? They had been having sex like they had been starved for it for decades. He thought they should go out on a date now? Luke started to tell him it was a stupid idea when he thought of seeing her all dressed up and all his.
Where would you suggest we go?
His brother told him he couldn’t do everything for him
. I guess…what if I took her to her hometown? Maybe pick up her car, see about her job or something.
Oh that reminds me. You remember Dan’s dad, Max? Well, he apparently knows Jack. Worked in her building where she worked for that advertising firm. He has something for her.
Luke felt his wolf snarl at him but held him back
. He said he’d like to talk to her if you don’t mind. And I’d like to suggest that you let him. It might go a long way for her and you if you don’t go all ape shit, as Slone is so fond of calling it when I get a little possessive of her.
My wolf is already ape shit.
Hunter laughed.
I’ll tell her, if you don’t mind. And let Max know that it’s okay with me if it is with her. And I’ll try my best not to go stupid with him.
Luke made his way to work. He wasn’t in the best of humor still, but at least he was getting some things done. As soon as he pulled into his space behind the courthouse, he seriously gave a good deal of thought to just going back home, finding Jack, and making love to her all day. But instead, he got out and went inside.
“There are a number of things that need your attention first thing.” Luke stared at Allen and nearly did turn to go back. “You have two meetings with—”
“Who hit you?” Luke knew that his wolf surfaced, and when Allen stepped back from him, he felt bad. “I’m sorry. But please tell me who beat the shit out of you. And where else are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.” But he wasn’t. As soon as he started to walk away, Luke knew that maybe a few ribs were broken as well. “You have a lot of meetings this morning.”
Luke didn’t move. He knew that if he stood there long enough, either he’d shift and go find who hurt his new friend or Allen would simply tell him. When he turned to look at him, Luke knew it was going to be him telling what happened.
“I was coming out of the building yesterday after you left. I only went to get some lunch, I swear. But they jumped me. I’m not sure who they all were, but one was Danny. That guy who got you arrested.” Luke told him to continue as he sat down on the chair in the hall. “They said that it was my fault that Conklin was in jail and that I’m the reason things are going to shit here. I tried to tell them that it was him, but—”
“But they didn’t want to hear it.” Allen nodded. “How bad is it? And don’t tell me again that you’re fine. I can smell your pain and hear how hard you’re breathing.”
Luke couldn’t actually smell his pain, but Allen didn’t know that. When he sat down on the edge of the desk, Luke knew it was going to be worse than he thought. Allen lifted his shirt and Luke cursed.
“I think I have a couple of broken ribs. And my leg hurts like a fucker.” Allen blushed. “Sorry. I tried taking some over the counter stuff, but it doesn’t even touch the pain. I got more on my back, but I can’t see them. I have a feeling they’re just as colorful.”
Luke stood up, took his briefcase and jacket to his office, and came out to see that Allen hadn’t moved. Helping him to the elevator, he spoke to him as calmly as his wolf would allow. Luke was fucking pissed, and his wolf…well, he wanted blood, and a good deal of it.
Chapter 6
Hunter searched for nearly ten minutes before he found Jack. He should have known she’d be outside. Every time she wasn’t with his wife, she was out of doors. Hunter sat down next to her at the little patio table they’d bought this past summer.
“Your brother has been hurt.” She stood up and then sat down again. “I’m to take you to the hospital—”
“Drugs?” Hunter shook his head. “Is he…is he dead? Please tell me…you said hospital, not morgue, so I can only hope he’s still alive. Right? He’s still alive?”
“He’s been beaten up. Not life threatening, but he is in a great deal of pain. I don’t know all the particulars yet, as Luke just asked me to see if you wanted to come to the hospital.” She nodded. “Honey, he’s going to be all right. And Luke will make sure that whoever is responsible will not be.”
She sat there for a long moment, not moving, not speaking. Hunter had an overwhelming urge to take her into his arms like a child, simply give her some comfort. He knew that he couldn’t, that Luke would tear him up, but he did reach for her hand and wasn’t really surprised that she pulled her hand back. Allen did the same thing, not really seeking or needing a touch for comfort like most humans did.
“I don’t know much about Allen any more. Just what Cash and your other brothers have told me.” She didn’t move to get dressed, and he waited. Hunter knew she was hurting, not just from this but with all the changes in her life. “My father called me today too. I don’t know how he got your number, so if you have to change it, I’ll pay.”
“We’re working through that now. It’s a new number and public, so if he knew where Allen or you were staying, he could have gotten it.” She nodded and still sat. “Do you want me to take you to Allen?”
“He hates me.” That shocked Hunter, but before he could tell her that Allen worshiped her, she continued. “I did leave him to rot in that jail cell. I’d had it with him and Dad. He was spoiled as a child, and when Mom died…when she died, it was as if everything fell apart and they both decided that I’d take her place. I spent so much of my life catering to them. So much of my own money to bail them both out of one jam or another. And even though my father had a great deal of money from my mom’s estate, he never spent his when mine was right there for the taking. And take he did. I couldn’t have a life while trying to live up to the one that they expected me to give them. I just needed my space. And now…now I live with people I don’t know, without a single penny to my name. I don’t mean to whine really, and I know that it’s all that I do, but I feel so…pressured. Like everything is falling down around me and I can’t keep it up any longer.”
“Jack, you have a lot here if you’d just let us help you with it. Luke will care for you. He did mess up with buying you all those things without talking to you, but he meant well.” She nodded, and that’s when he noticed that she was wearing a pair of his wife’s pants and another of Luke’s shirts. He’d bet anything she’d not touched a single thing in those bags. “Why don’t you go and get dressed? I’ll take you into town, and you can see that Allen is all right. He did ask for you.”
She turned and looked at him, and Hunter saw for the first time what all this, everything, was costing the young woman. Jack looked haunted, depressed even. When he started to speak again, she turned away.
“I’ll go in. I…I have to make some arrangements to get my own car. And a few other things from my desk at work.” He nodded, but he knew that both of those things had been taken care of. “I’ll need a ride back too. Do you think you could lend me a car for a few days? Or a bike? I don’t care.”
“I’ll see what I can do for you.” She nodded and stood up. When she entered the house, he felt his heart break for her. Pulling the small notepad toward him, he looked at the drawing she’d been doing. Christ, it was amazing. Picking it up, he went to find Slone. This was something she needed to see.
“She did this? This morning?” He nodded at Slone. He could tell by her face that she was just as excited as he was. “This looks just like what we’ve been looking for. Did you tell her?”
“No. I didn’t even tell Luke, so he didn’t tell her either.” They both stared at the drawing of the store front that was going to be their antique shop. The old chair, watering can, and the quilt lying over an old table were beautiful. There was even a small dog sleeping in front of the rocker and flowers just on the edge of the page. There was no writing on it, of course. She’d not known about the name they’d picked out, but it was just exactly what they’d been looking for.
“We have to tell her.” They both turned when the door behind them opened and Hunter smiled at Jack. When she took a step back, he had to laugh. She was just like her brother in that she was very distrusting. “Why did you draw this?”
He sounded too excited, his voice maybe just a little hard. When she took another step back, he sat down. Hunter looked at Slone for help.
“This is beautiful. And what my overbearing husband is trying to tell you, while scaring you shitless, is that we needed a drawing like this. For our business cards. What we’d like to know is why did you draw this particular thing?” Jack shrugged and put her hands in her pockets. It was then that Hunter realized she was embarrassed by their excitement.
“You’re an amazing artist. I can see now why you worked in advertising. You must have had customers beating down your door.” Again the shrug but still nothing. Then it hit him. “They didn’t see it, did they? Christ, didn’t they see what kind of work you could do for them? How much money you could have brought in for them?”
“When I was hurt…fired, I guess, I was working on a campaign for adult diapers. They were going to get sued for the work they wanted me to do. Not by my fault with the campaign, but with the company itself. The name of the company that we had and the structure of the packaging were so close to the name brand it was going to come back and bite them in the ass. Adult diapers they called them, nothing slick about that. Yet they had to have it called that. And the owners wanted me to make it sexy. I’m pretty sure you can see where that was nearly impossible.” She sat down and looked at them both. “You can use it if you want. Consider it payment for letting me stay here. In fact, if you have anything else you want drawn up, I can help you out. It would be nice to work again.”
“Can you help me?” Hunter looked at Ellis when he came into the kitchen. “I want a fresh look. I don’t want girly, but something that isn’t the same old same old. The jackhammer is on about fifty other construction company logos.”
“Sure.” She looked at Hunter before nodding to Ellis. Hunter wondered if she realized that she’d done it. As his pack member, she was already understanding that he had to approve projects that were in his domain. Not that he would have kept her from it, but it was good to know she was a part of their pack.
“I have Emerson Builders. It’s been in my family for a few generations. My dad’s dad started it, and then Dad took it from him. Up until a few months ago, Hunter ran it. Then I took it when he became alpha.” Hunter handed Jack the pad again and she tore off the drawing and handed it to him. They watched her sketch notes on a fresh page, and she drew a truck that looked just like the one that was currently parked in the drive. It had everything but the current logo on it.
“I have to go to the hospital now. My brother is hurt. But maybe this will give you an idea what I can do for you.” Ellis asked if he was all right. “I don’t know yet. Mr. Emerson said that he was fine, just beat up. I sort of…I was telling him that Allen and I aren’t very close, and I’ve kind of decided that I’d like to rectify that. If he’ll let me.”
She continued to draw out things with the notes she’d made. Hunter watched as a building took shape, then a crew of men. The large truck with the name blazing across it in sharp lettering came to life. As it continued to take shape, Hunter noticed that Jack seemed to fade out, almost, he thought, like she was the only one there. When she laid down her pencil, she turned and handed the pad to Ellis.
“It’s just a rough draft. If you have a better idea, I can do pretty much anything. I won’t do trademarks; that’s nasty business. So if that’s the route you want to go, then count me out.” She stood up and Ellis continued to stare at the pad. “It’ll have to be bigger, any drawing you want. Bigger gives you more detail, better perspective, and you can even add—”
Ellis grabbed her into his arms and swung her around the room twice before he put her down. Usually so quiet and reserved, he looked alive. Hunter smiled too, just knowing that his brother was this happy. And Jack looked like she’d like to crawl into a hole and stay there. It might have been funny if not for it being so sad too.
“I love it. Christ, I love it. Do you…? You have no idea how much…this is simply…you’re perfect.” He hugged her again. “Can you draw this bigger, like you said? And stationary…I’ll need it on billings, the truck. We’ll have signs made. And I can have tee-shirts done up. I can’t….” He hugged her again as he pulled out his cell phone. Jack looked at him with a look of complete confusion on her face.
“It was just a little thing. Not worth all that.” Hunter laughed and so did Slone. “You guys are nuts. Just nuts.”
Hunter was still laughing as he made his way out to the car with her. Slone was coming with them, as she had to see about some other things in town. He wondered when they could go baby shopping, but didn’t ask. She was still getting used to that too.
Slone was doing so much better now about getting out in the public. Not to say she still didn’t get scared and nervous, but she was making great headway into getting over things. And with Jack there, he could see her getting more and more public. He was going to love having Jack around just for that alone.
Luke was in the emergency room when they got there. Hunter watched Luke take Jack into his arms, then stiffen. She pulled back and shivered, there was fear there. When Hunter put his hand on Luke’s shoulder, he could feel his wolf.
“Someone….” Hunter nodded. “Ellis should know better. I know he should. What the hell was he doing?”
“He hugged her. She did him a massive favor and he was happy.” Hunter watched as Slone took Jack to the nurse’s desk. “Calm him down or so help me, I’ll do it for you. He was happy. He asked her for a favor and she did it. I don’t even think he thought about what he was doing.”
“What kind of favor?” He told him about the drawing and showed him the one she’d done for him. “She did this? I knew she worked for an advertising firm, but I had…this is really good. Damned good.”
“You should see what she did for Ellis. He came in and asked for something fresh for the construction company, and she tossed a drawing off like it was nothing. You should have seen him. He was beside himself with excitement. Again, I don’t even think he thought about what he was doing. I’ve never seen him so excited. Christ. She’s that good.” Luke nodded and turned to look at the woman. “You frightened her. Do something.”
“What? I’m open for any and all suggestions on this. I’m at a loss about everything with her. Was it like this with Slone? I can’t remember it being this hard with her.” Luke turned back to him. “I have no idea what do to. She’s depressed. I can almost taste it, she’s so sad. I try to talk to her and she shuts me out. I think…damn it Hunter, I don’t know what to do. Or even where to begin to help her. I’ve even suggested that she find a doctor and she cried. Cried. I finally had to leave the house. It was tearing me apart.”
“I’m sorry.” And he was. Hunter had no idea what to do. Jack was a wolf and she didn’t want to be. She’d been made without her permission or knowledge, and it was hurting her. Plus to find out that she had a mate, one like his brother, would be a lot for anyone. Luke was a good man, but he seemed to be in over his head right now.
“How about I have Dad talk to her?” Luke nodded but continued to watch Jack. “Are you in love with her?’
“With all my heart.” As he walked away, Hunter reached for their dad. He said that he’d come there right now after Hunter told him what was going on.
He’s in love with her. And he’s at a loss as to how to help her.
His dad said he knew that Luke loved her, but he’d do his best to help her.
Poor thing. She just needs a little push is all. We’ll get her there.
And Hunter had to agree. She was going to need all the help she could get. And he decided that he’d look into her dad, too. He had a feeling there was something there as well.
~~~
Allen heard someone open the door and moaned. If someone poked him again, he was going to scream. He fucking hurt and they were making him hurt more. But when he turned his head to tell them, beg whoever it was to go away, he looked at his sister.
“You look lovely.” Her face brightened to stain her cheeks and he felt his own face heat up. “I’m sorry. It’s just…the last time I saw you…it wasn’t very pretty.”
“I guess not.” She sat down and Allen didn’t know what to say to her. “Hunter said you’d been beat up. I’m really sorry, but my first thought was that you’d gotten into some bad drugs. I shouldn’t have thought that after you told me you were clean. I’m sorry.”
Allen felt his heart twist in his chest for giving her reason to think that. “Thank you for that. But I was beaten up as I was coming out of work. I didn’t see them until I was already down. But I don’t blame you for thinking the worst of me. I wasn’t a good person then.”
“I didn’t mean to leave you.” He nodded and tried his best to stop the tears. Men didn’t cry, according to his father, and old habits were hard to break. “I wasn’t in a good place either. And you were tearing me apart with all the carelessness you were doing to yourself. I should have…I don’t know what I could have done, but staying wasn’t going to help either of us.”