Mating Seduction-epub (2 page)

He herded Lexie out onto the graveled drive and into his pickup truck, parked a short distance from the barn, and then drove to the two-story pack lodge. Lately,  Aiden had been working past midnight. Inside the lodge, Jackson paused before the open double oak doors of his alpha’s upstairs office. Dark hair mussed, Aiden Mitchell, owner of the Mitchell Ranch, glanced up from the computer as Jackson tugged Lexie inside. She pulled against his grip.

Aiden’s gaze narrowed. “I know we’re short on females, but abducting one from another pack isn’t acceptable behavior, Jackson.”

“Just having a little fun. Lexie agreed to help me practice roping.” He winked at her and then turned serious as he regarded his alpha. “She decided to pay me an unexpected visit and is staying the week. Need a cabin. My room here at the lodge won’t suffice.”

Leather creaked as Aiden leaned back in his chair. He took a long, interested look at Jackson’s prisoner. “Lexie Walters, from the Blakemore pack. How’s your alpha doing?”

“Nikita’s fine.”

Aiden studied her with frank speculation. “You intend to take good care of her, Jackson? Treat her right?”

He drew in a deep breath. “You know I will, Aiden.”

“So Lexie is your choice?” The pack alpha gave him a meaningful look.

Jackson nodded.

Aiden’s expression smoothed out. He gestured to the calendar on the wall behind him. “Plan to take her with the pack on the seventh night. Full moon and I’ve decided we’re all running together, to honor your guest.”

Joy kicked up inside him. He’d been banned from running with the pack because of the fistfight. Now he had full acceptance again. And running with the pack meant Aiden accepted her presence. It indicated the alpha’s approval of Jackson mating with her.

Lexie shook her head. “I don’t run with the full moon. Or shift in front of others.”

“Why not?” Jackson asked.

She refused to answer. What the hell was wrong with Lexie? He couldn’t remember a time she’d talked about shifting. Maybe she didn’t like it. Didn’t she realize what an honor Aiden had handed her?

“When I tell all Lupines on the ranch to run with the moon, they run, and we run as a pack,” the alpha told her.

Lexie bit her lip and shook her head. His concern grew as Aiden tapped the desktop in growing impatience. Damn, if his alpha changed his mind…

“Those who disobey my orders are punished,” Aiden said slowly.

Jackson thought fast to diffuse the gathering tension. “Sounds good. Leave the punishment up to me since she’s my guest. I’ll keep her trapped in the cabin, turn her over my knee and spank her bare bottom.”

The alpha gave an approving nod.

“You can’t do that!” she cried out, backing away from him.

“Watch me try. You might even learn to like it,” he drawled.

Fire snapped in her eyes, and she gave a low growl. “Oh yeah? Try it, and I’ll take all your boots and turn them into flower planters.”

To Jackson’s enormous relief, Aiden threw his head back and laughed. The alpha went to a map on the wall displaying 30 individual cabins. Clusters of luxurious houses were built in various sections of the ranch’s 45,000-acre spread. Aiden had the homes constructed as an incentive for more males to settle down, mate and raise babies.

He stuck a red push pin into a large two-story house surrounded by forest, then fished out a set of keys from a drawer in the credenza.

“Take the cabin near the river. It’s stocked, cleaned and ready for our visitors tomorrow, but I’ll give them quarters at the lodge. The cabin offers plenty of privacy and besides, I want to keep a closer eye on the Skins.”

“Thanks.” Jackson caught the keys with one hand.

“What visitors?” she asked.

“Bart Baker, bringing his champion stud to breed.” Jackson tapped her nose playfully. “No one you need worry about.”

“If I were you, I’d keep an eye on Lexie until she behaves like a Lupine should. No wolf on my ranch declines an order to run with the pack.” A frown darkened Aiden’s black-bearded face.

“She’ll be fine. A few riding sessions with me will suffice.”

“I don’t need any more riding lessons from you,” she asserted.

“In the corral, nope. But in bed? I could teach you a few things,” Jackson drawled.

Aiden gave a deep rumble of laughter as scarlet flushed Lexie’s cheeks.

Sitting in the big leather chair, Aiden propped up a boot on the polished desktop. “You know I must formally acknowledge to Nikita that Lexie is a guest in our territory and now under our protection. You understand how important this is, for Nikita to know exactly what her pack will be gaining?”

Sudden insight hit him at the double meaning. Aiden approved of Jackson’s mating with Lexie because it would give him an inside edge at gaining all the single females in the Blakemore pack. Aiden had been itching to gain access to Nikita’s pack for months, but the stubborn alpha female refused to allow anyone access.

“Got it, boss. Tell her I’m going to take real special care of Lexie.”

They exchanged knowing looks as Lexie’s brow furrowed in concern

“I’ll take Lexie to the north pasture tomorrow when we round up the yearlings for their vaccinations. Nikita will be happy Lexie’s learning about that, since she dropped out of college.”

“How did you know I dropped out?” she asked, tugging at the rope confining her arms.

“Darling, I make it my business to know everything about you.”

“Not everything,” she muttered, refusing to meet his gaze.

“All right.” Aiden scrolled through the computer. “I’ll go visit Nikita tomorrow, invite myself to dinner and let her know about Lexie. It’s protocol. Last thing we need is a pack war.”

“You won’t get past the front gate,” Lexie said..

Aiden went very still.

Jackson squeezed her shoulder. “Lex? Why not?”

She shook her head in obvious distress. “You should probably just call.”

“Tell me,” Aiden ordered, making Lexie jump. The alpha gentled his voice. “Is there a problem? I want to help.”

After a moment of consideration, Lexie said, “Nikita will never let a male get near her.”

“Not even for dinner?” Aiden shook his head.

“Dinner can turn into something more. And you’ll never convince her to let you into her bed. She’ll never let you run her life. Nothing will get her to relinquish power.”

His normally mild alpha slammed a fist upon the desk. Pencil holders and a glass of tea rattled. Aiden stood and braced his hands on the desktop, thunderclouds forming on his brow.

Jackson felt a spurt of pride when Lexie didn’t lower her gaze or step back. She lifted her chin and spoke in a steady, but low voice. “Her pride won’t let her accept help from outsiders.” She stilled, then met Aiden’s questioning look head on. “If only I’d known…”

Lexie fell silent.

Jackson turned her around. “Known what?”

She compressed her lips. Troubled, Jackson glanced at Aiden, whose furious look turned to frank speculation.

When the alpha spoke, his voice was mild. “There’s spare clothing in the supply room that should fit her until Nikita sends over her stuff.”

Jackson nodded. As Lexie began to protest, he silently scooped her over one shoulder like a sack of flour. He gave her bottom a gentle slap. “Quiet now, or I’ll gag you, too.”

At the downstairs supply closet, he set Lexie onto her feet and released her from the lariat. Silently she picked out an assortment of garments and stuffed them into the suitcase he found. Jackson carried the luggage outside, one hand at the small of her back as he guided her out the door.

“Where’s your truck?” he asked.

“Down the road outside the front gate.”

“You walked all this distance?”

“If I got caught, I didn’t want Aiden confiscating the truck. It belongs to the ranch.”

He held out his hand and she sighed, fishing the keys from a pocket. Minutes later, they drove in her pickup truck back to the lodge. Jackson pulled into the gravel parking lot and shut off the engine, leaving the keys in the ignition.

“I’ll leave it here, and Nikita can have someone pick it up tomorrow when she sends over your stuff.”

“Thanks.”

Warmth curled in his chest, seeing her tuckered out as a pup. Jackson went to his pickup and put his rope and her suitcase in the bed as Lexie climbed into the cab.

The cabin was a good fifteen-minute drive from the lodge down the winding gravel road, snaking along pastures and corrals. Finally he turned onto a dirt road flanked by pine and oak trees and pulled up to a two-story wood cabin. Large windows overlooked a wide porch with a view of the sweeping, grassy meadows. It was isolated and alone - like him, he thought cynically.

Eyes huge in her face, Lexie climbed out, hugging herself. Sensing exhaustion but no fear, Jackson took her suitcase, escorted her inside and flipped on the lights.

The cabin opened to a great room with hardwood floors and floor-to-ceiling windows. A bronze statue of a rearing horse sat atop the fireplace mantel. The room was homey and comfortable, with big, overstuffed chairs gathered around a cheery floral rug set before the stone hearth fireplace.

He set her suitcase down as Lexie explored her new home for the week. The kitchen was a showpiece, a large window over the sink to allow in plenty of natural light, white, glass-door cabinets and gleaming honey-toned granite. A breakfast bar separated the kitchen from a dining table with eight chairs. French doors from the dining area led to an outside deck.

“Hot tub and lounge chairs outside on the deck,” Jackson told her as she ran a finger across the counter. “Big enough backyard for a garden, or a child’s playground.”

Aiden had each cabin designed to accommodate the families he hoped the mostly male pack would father.

“It’s late and you need rest. Take the first guest room upstairs,” he told her.

Her delicate scent wound around him like the lariat he’d captured her with, tendrils of intoxicating female teasing his groin and making him hard. Lexie glanced at him, the tension easing from her rigid shoulders. “And where are you sleeping?”

Sighing, he pointed to the leather sofa.

“There’s not another bedroom upstairs?”

“Yeah, there is.” He dragged in a lungful of her scent. “But if I bunk near you, you won’t be a virgin in the morning.”

Lexie gulped.  “So, I’m sleeping alone?”

He wanted her. Forever. Not only a night and he needed to show her the all the pleasures awaiting her in his bed, without forcing her hand. “Tomorrow we’ll work with the yearlings.”

She brightened and picked up her suitcase before he could haul it upstairs for her. “And Diamond? Do I get to see her again?”

He nodded. Damn, would she ever react with such enthusiasm to him instead of a horse? Draw close and whisper how much she missed him? He’d spent the past two years missing her terribly.

Her smile dropped. “When, er, does our agreement begin?” A delicate flush heated her face. “The part about me sleeping with you.”

Oh baby, right now, because I’m more than ready.
But he wanted to go slow, let her become accustomed to his touch. “The third night. I want to give you time to settle in.”

Jackson took her hand, marveling at how delicate and pretty her fingers were. So soft. He stroked his thumb across the back and felt her shiver.

Then he brushed a kiss against her knuckles.

Surprise flared on her face. “What’s that for?”

“A gentleman always kisses a lady’s hand goodnight. I’m no gentleman,” his grin widened, “but you sure are a lady.”

Her small, hesitant smile was worth it. He needed her acknowledging the sexual need flaring between them. Their kiss two years ago had nearly made his groin explode and he knew, scented,  she felt the same.

Watching her race up the stairs, Jackson wondered if he should have tumbled her on the living room floor. Maybe he was being too soft. And then he glanced down and fervently wished he would be soft. That part of him, anyway. But it refused. Nope, his dick was eager and straining in his jeans, waving hello as if emerging from a long drought.

He’d had sex last week. And yet it felt as if he’d been celibate for years, because he’d been denied Lexie, the one female that could satisfy heart and soul..

Tossing his hat onto the coffee table, he sat on the sofa and prepared for a long night. A very long, hard night. One troubling thought chased through his mind as he stripped and bedded down.

What was going on at the Blakemore ranch and why was Lexie reluctant to talk about it?

Sunlight streamed into the spacious bedroom, nudging Lexie awake. She blinked hard and sat up, staring at the magnificent view outside of pasture and trees.

After her shower, she went downstairs, rounded the corner into the kitchen.

A naked man stood at the stove, frying bacon.

Grinding to a halt, she uttered a small shriek. Jackson turned his head and offered a lazy grin. “Morning, darling. Want some breakfast?”

“Frying bacon in the nude? You’re either brave or crazy.”

“Adventurous. Like to think of myself as adventurous.”

“Will you put some clothes on?”

Jackson tilted his head. “Why? I’m Lupine and like getting close to nature. Always sleep nude, too.”

Lordy, something was on fire and it wasn’t the bacon. Heat spiraled through her body, curling low in her loins. Jackson in jeans and working shirt was a sight to behold.

But a naked Jackson, whoa, this fired all her dormant sexual circuits. Sculpted muscles roped his long arms, the biceps bulging as he grabbed more rashers of raw bacon to toss into the skillet. Planes of muscle and sinew framed his back, dipping down to his taut…

Oh yeah. Nothing like a male with a very firm ass.

His limbs were long, straight and dusted with dark hair. Even his feet were perfect.

As he started to turn, she squeaked. “Please, put some clothes on.”

He considered, then plucked a red apron off a wood peg near the stove and tied it around his waist and neck, leaving his very fine ass exposed to her hungry eyes. The apron’s front read,
Kiss My Meat.