Mating Behavior (3 page)

“I don’t drone.” The look on his face said
he wanted to lecture her, but was holding back.

Good boy.

Dropping down in front of her, he touched
her ankle lightly. She winced. “I’d ask if that hurt but I already
know the answer.” Alan slid his fingers over the red, swollen area
and Katie’s breath caught. His scent, rosemary and cedar moved over
her, besieging her senses and leaving her breathing in short, sharp
gasps. His touch was like magik—it always had been. Heat seemed to
pour over her and she knew better than to question Alan about it.
The man had secrets that Katie knew he’d never share with her.

At first, it had hurt, knowing there was
something different about her best friend, something he didn’t
think she needed to know, but over the years, she’d adjusted to it
just fine. Besides, she had more than her fair share of secrets as
well. It was hard to remain upset with him when she’d kept major
portions of herself from him.

Somehow, Alan’s touch really did soothe her
aching ankle, but that didn’t surprise her in the least. She fell
on some ice outside of their building and hurt her elbow last year.
His touch had calmed it to the point Katie forgot it even hurt.
What was even odder was the fact there wasn’t so much as a hint
left on her that an injury ever took place. When she’d asked about
it, he’d clammed up, refusing to comment and evading the question.
The not knowing what had transpired ate at her, having Alan pull
away nearly did her in. She gave up and kept her mouth shut.

Some questions weren’t worth the price of
their answer. Besides, if Alan was freaked out by possessing such a
small gift, like healing, how would he ever come to terms with her
being a witch? A powerful one at that?

“Thanks,” she whispered.

He winked, but still held a look of concern.
“No problem. Why don’t you put your foot up for a bit while I get
another fire started?”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him close.
“Alan.”

“Yes?” he asked, his light blue eyes locked
on her.

Katie fought the urge to put her mouth
closer to his. Alan’s lips were fuller than most men she knew and
they served nicely to soften an otherwise too hard face. He’d had a
full beard for about six months until she complained about missing
the sight of his dimpled chin. The next day, Alan’s face was a
smooth as a baby’s bottom. That wasn’t exactly what she wanted
either. After much hint dropping, Alan had taken to leaving a light
dusting of hair on his jaw line. Each day was a testament of her
will power—not demanding he kiss her.

She ran her hand through his nut brown,
layered hair and put her lips close to his. “Thank you for making
my ankle feel better.”

Alan’s brow furrowed as he leaned in closer
to her. His warm breath skated over her bottom lip and she had to
keep from moaning. He planted his hands on both sides of her and
stared deeply into her eyes. It wasn’t something Alan was prone to
doing and it caught Katie a bit off guard. “I need to gather
more
firewood, hon,” he said, sounding more like he was
trying to convince himself he needed to move, rather than sway
her.

“Uh-huh.” Katie put her hand over his and
caressed his fingers. “Be careful. They tell me there are wolves
out here.”

A slow, sexy smile slid over his handsome
face. “You don’t say? I’ll have to be on my guard then, huh?”

Suddenly, the idea of him being hurt seemed
very real for some odd reason. Katie knew they were only joking
back and forth, but she couldn’t shake the feeling Alan might very
well end up injured. She clutched his hand. Her oldest sister and
her mother possessed the ability to see the future. While Katie
didn’t, every now and then she could sense pending danger. She knew
better to ignore the sensation, regardless of how silly it seemed.
“Seriously, Alan, be careful. Please.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t leave you to brave the
elements all by your lonesome, Katie.”

Pfft, I could control the elements if I
focused hard enough.

Letting go of his hand, Katie cupped his
chin quickly. “Alan Lawrence Becker, this is not funny. I don’t
give a damn about being alone in the… umm… never mind, I do care
about that, but not as much as I care about you. Be careful.
Promise me. We’re a long way out from help being able to get to us
if we have a problem.”

Alan puckered his lips and moved forward,
pressing his lips to her forehead. “I will. I promise.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d given her a
chaste kiss like that and each time he did, she couldn’t help but
wonder what it would be like to really kiss him.

Katie ran her hands up the sides of his face
and pressed her forehead to his lips once more, savoring the feel
of being this close to him. “Give me a minute and I’ll come with
you.”

“And if I should run into wolves, how are
you planning to protect me?” he asked good humouredly. “You going
to read them the riot act too? Works on me, so it very well could
work on them, too.”

She hadn’t thought about that, but it didn’t
matter. It wasn’t as if she could summon her powers and zap a wolf
with Alan watching her. Regardless, she wasn’t completely helpless
and hated feeling that she was. Katie stared into his eyes as she
swallowed hard. Feelings she’d long since given up trying to get to
go away resurfaced with a vengeance. “I want to be with you.”

“Be
with
me?” Alan asked lifting a
questioning brow.

Katie averted her gaze. “I mean, uhh, I want
to help you gather more firewood.”

“Rest your ankle,” he said, pressing an
innocent kiss to the tip of her nose. “I’ll be back in a bit. I
promise.”

She clung to him and Alan drew back
slightly. “Katie, what’s wrong? You’re acting strange.”

I feel strange.

She held that part back, choosing instead to
wrinkle her nose and wink. “Hurry up. Okay?”

Alan stared into Katie’s dark brown eyes and
pushed a stray strand of white blonde hair back into her cap. How
she managed to get her unruly mane of hair into nothing more than a
knit hat still boggled him. Most of what Katie did managed to
surprise him time and time again. She was a free spirit. One he
envied greatly. He’d lost count of the number of classes she’d
taken that wavered off her major’s requirements some time ago. If
she had an interest in it, she signed up for the course.

When she’d insisted on doing a research
paper on the mating behavior of the red wolf, she’d taken the cake,
shocking him to the core. She’d gone on to tell him about having a
series of dreams consisting of the two of them surrounded by a pack
of baby wolves. The thought moved him dramatically. He’d found
himself blurting out how he’d take her to observe them, if she
wanted, and how they could use his family’s cabin in the mountains.
The next thing he knew, the woman he loved more than life itself
was wrapped around him, squealing with delight and making him swear
to honor his promise. He could no more deny her this than he could
deny his feelings for her.

How he’d managed to keep his feelings a
secret from Katie this long was a mystery to him. Somehow, she
didn’t seem to notice his lingering stares, his need to be close to
her and the way they seemed to live life around one another’s
schedule. Neither had been part of the dating scene for six months
now. Even when they were, it was merely a ruse. Alan’s keen senses
allowed him to pick up other men’s scents on Katie. For the first
month or so after meeting her, she’d held another’s scent. He was
elated she’d gotten rid of it until the incident six months
ago.

Even then, with the scent of another man on
her, he didn’t run off and take another woman to his bed. He
thought about it, but ended up bailing midway through dinner and
dancing, only to return home and crawl into an empty bed. No one
but Katie would do. Of that, he was sure.

He had lost his temper that night and had
come close to shifting in front of Katie. Even now, smelling
someone else on what should be his made him bristle in jealous
rage. Lucky for him, Alan chose to rush out of the room and slam
the door so hard it broke. He then disappeared for several days
after, needing time to try to cool his jealous streak.

I have no claim on her.

It didn’t matter how many times he told
himself that—it changed nothing. He wanted to claim Katie as his
mate and no amount of mental psyching out was going to change that.
Still, taking her as his would be the equivalent of signing her
death warrant. He’d never harm her or let harm come to her.

When he’d first met Katie, it had felt as if
a Mack truck slammed into him, leaving him breathless. She was in
the market for an apartment and had no luck finding one. She’d
stopped in the same coffee shop he was in and began searching their
message board. She was a senior in college at the time, putting her
five years younger than him, but something deep inside wouldn’t let
Alan watch the moment pass him by.

He owned the building he lived in and was
careful who he did and did not rent to. There was a set of elderly
sisters who lived on the first level. One had been harmed in a
mugging in their old neighborhood and Alan wanted to know they were
safe, so he charged next to nothing for them to live there and kept
an eye on them. They took on the role of surrogate grandmothers to
the residents of the building, even going so far as to pack lunches
for Alan with the crusts cut off the sandwiches. He didn’t have the
heart to tell them to stop.

A single mother lived on the second floor
and across from her a man Alan trusted with his life—a long-time
friend and fellow outcast shifter. His friend’s obsession with the
single mother rivaled Alan’s with Katie, so they left well enough
alone and pretended they hadn’t fallen for humans.

Finally, Alan lived on the third floor.
Never in his life had he planned to rent out the apartment across
from his. In fact, he’d planned to have the walls torn down between
the two, making it one large studio.

Something about Katie left Alan not only
offering up the place across from his, but making damn sure she
could afford it. He bought her a cup of coffee and they ended up
talking until the shop closed. They’d been friends ever since. He
shared almost every aspect of his life with Katie. The only part he
kept to himself was what he truly was. More than a man, but not
quite a complete beast. A werewolf.

Her interest in wolves always left him
smiling. On many occasions Alan had considered telling her the
truth about himself, but the thought of losing her to fear and to
the pack prevented the words from falling from his lips. Katie
meant too much to him. She’d become his reason for living.

Coming to his senses, Alan stared at the
beauty before him, his cock hard and his breathing shallow. She was
close enough to kiss, but he held back, knowing one small taste
would never be enough. The power she wielded over him was unlike
anything he’d ever encountered before and with as bizarre as his
life was, Alan had seen a lot in his days.

“I should get that wood now,” he said, his
voice scarcely above a whisper. “We’ll want another fire going
soon.”

Katie nodded, her dark eyes scanning his
face. “
Mmm-hmm
, wood.”

His supernatural senses picked up the
elevation in her heart rate and the change in her breathing. As the
knowledge Katie was aroused struck him, Alan thought for sure his
already aching cock would burst. Her thick lashes lowered as she
bit the corner of her lips. Unable to help himself, Alan traced a
line from under her eye to where she bit. Her smooth skin was
flushed from what he’d assumed was the slight bite in the air. Now
he wondered if it was something else.

Does she want me too?

“Katie.” Her name fell out in a hushed
breath as Alan positioned his powerful body over hers. His intent
had been to push up and off the ground, putting distance between
them before he did something stupid like kiss her only to find out
she didn’t want him in that way. That wasn’t what happened.
Normally agile—and scarily so—Alan’s foot slipped out from under
him. He fell onto Katie, knocking her on her back as he rode her
body down.

A
harrumph
whooshed out of her lungs
as she wrapped her arms around him. Her ample breasts pressed
against her zip-up sweater. Even with a long-sleeved, lightweight
shirt on, Alan could feel her nipples hardening to pebble-like
peaks while his cock dug painfully against the zipper of his jeans.
A lesser man would have come in his pants by now.

Get off her before you fuck her. Now.

He made a move to roll off her but stopped
as the length of his cock rubbed against her covered mound. Katie
hissed as if in pain before rocking against him. About to become a
lesser man and come before he ever really started, Alan rolled off
her quickly, knowing he’d lose control if he dared to remain in
place. He got to his feet with inhuman speed and froze as Katie
drew in a sharp breath.

Shit. Tell me I did not just let her see
me move that fast.
Alan replayed the events in his head.
Fuck, I did.

He looked away, unable to face her. The last
thing he wanted to do was confess to being a supernatural while she
was stuck in the middle of nowhere with him. “Katie, I, umm, I can
explain. I have—”

“Shh,” she whispered. “They’re your secrets
to keep, Alan. When you’re ready to
finally
be honest with
me you can tell me. No one ever
really
knows the person
they’re with… erm… they’re friends with.” She sniffled and nearly
brought him to his knees with guilt. “You should get that wood now.
You’re right. We will want a fire going soon.”

Dismissed, Alan tried to muster the courage
to tell Katie the truth. For some reason, the words “I’m a
werewolf” refused to come. He’d seen humans react to the news
before and it wasn’t pretty. Instead, a long, drawn out breath was
all that arrived. Deciding it best to avoid looking at Katie for
fear of surrendering to her tears, Alan headed off into the thick
wooded area of the mountain, determined to regain his
composure.