New Beginnings (6 page)

Jess shook off the feeling, and placed the
plate at the table before turning away. “Tell me something.” She
pulled the steaks off the grill. He was silent until she faced him
again.

His gray eyes met hers and he tilted his
head, waiting for the question.

So she asked, “What’s Brody’s story?”

Slater’s expression darkened and he snapped.
“Why?”

She blinked at him a second before glaring
back. “He seems like he’s going through something hard. I’m just
curious.”

His eyes narrowed. “Two years ago, his wife
was overseas in Iraq. She called to tell him she was pregnant with
their first child and was coming home. She died in a bombing before
she ever made it to the airfield.”

Her hand came up to her chest. “Oh God, I
knew it was bad, but not that bad.” Maybe it was a good thing
Fallon wasn’t moving right away. Brody clearly wasn’t done
mourning. Her heart went out to him.

“He’s not ready for any relationship.”
Slater’s tone was harsh.

That startled a laugh out of her. “Wait. You
thought I was interested in him?”

“Most women are.”

“Hmph, I’m not looking for anyone. I don’t
want a wolf.” Slater flinched at that, but she continued, “I don’t
want a human. No mages, witches, druids, nothing. No men. I just
want to run my bar and make my own life.” She fixed him with a
dirty look. “Brody’s a nice guy, but he’s obviously hurting. I’m
not a fan of dredging up painful memories. That’s why I asked
you
. I wasn’t trying to hook up with him. That okay with
you, Mr. I-Don’t-Date-My-Wolves?”

Slater dropped his gaze, and sawed through
his steak with a scowl.

Well so much for feeling comfortable around
the dumbass. She just hoped this night would end quickly so she
could get rid of him and his pretentious attitude.

He closed his eyes and took the first bite
of steak between his lips. Maybe she was a glutton, or just plain
stupid because she watched every second. She squeezed her thighs
together and cursed her damned libido for roaring to life just
then.

He practically purred. “Now this is really
good, Jess.”

A compliment, now? After throwing a fit? The
bastard.

“I know.” She forced her gaze away from him
and took a long drink of beer. As she cut into her own steak, she
wondered what the hell she had been thinking letting him come over
in the first place.

Neither said much else. He was fairly grumpy
the rest of the damned night, just because she had asked about
another wolf. Well he could bite the big one because neither of
them wanted a wolf. He just needed to remember that.

* * * *

Slater stared up at the ceiling in his dark
bedroom and slammed his hand into the headboard. Man he felt like a
dick. Jess was pissed, and after thinking about it all damned
night, he figured out why.

Of course she would be curious about what
was up with Brody. He told her he didn’t date his wolves, and then
he threw a jealous hissy fit over nothing. He wasn’t supposed to
care if she was interested in anyone in the first place. Fuck, he
was a moron.

His feet hit the floor. Standing, he pushed
his shorts off and made his way through the house. The cool air
enveloped him as he shut the door and willed the change. Fur flowed
down his back as his body reformed into his wolf form. He dropped
to all fours as the shift completed. Hoping to burn off his extra
energy, He tore off for the woods.

The sounds of the night wrapped around him,
the owls in the trees, the crickets, and the occasional fish
jumping in the lake. He let nature seep into his senses as he
pushed himself faster.

Slater hoped the run would ease the tension
that started in his shoulders and knotted down his arms, back and
all the way down his legs, but he had a feeling nothing would
help.

In no time he came to a stop at the edge of
the lake to drink. The cool water felt good and he was tempted to
take a swim. Maybe the cool water would bring some clarity to his
jumbled feelings.

Slater didn’t know what had come over him.
He’d acted like a jealous lover at the mere mention of another man.
Jealousy was an unfamiliar emotion. Even after watching Victoria
flirting with other men just after being intimate with him, he
never felt it.

Then he realized that he hadn’t spoken to
her since that morning Jess first called over two weeks before.

The little blond spitfire was going to throw
his whole world into upheaval, and he had a feeling there was
nothing he could do about it.

Something caught his attention and he
paused. A new scent entered the mix of Douglas fir, redwood and
clean mountain air. It was the musk of wolf with a hint of jasmine,
and he knew it was her.

Silently, he turned to search the woods. A
honey colored wolf darted out of the trees and froze as her amber
eyes locked on his. His beast urged him to run to her, to chase, to
play. He realized he didn’t have the desire to best her wolf like
he did with the rest of his pack. That had never happened before
either.

He stood, taking human shape as he held his
hands out to hopefully calm her. Jess didn’t move as she watched
him. Thankfully he only took seconds to fully shift.

Slater wanted to demand she stay, but his
tone was gentle. “For the record, I’m sorry I was an ass tonight. I
shouldn’t have invited myself over, but I enjoy your company. You
gave me no reason to jump to the conclusions I did.”

She nodded once but took a step back.

“I’d like to talk, without all the shit this
time.” He cursed his begging tone but he couldn’t help himself.
When she made no move to shift back, his heart sank into his gut.
“Perhaps tomorrow?”

She made a huffing sound before bolting back
down the same path she came. She was headed toward home.

The urge to win her trust was too strong, he
knew getting close was a bad idea but he craved her company. He
wanted, no needed, to show her that he wasn’t a complete prick.
Somehow, he knew that was going to take work because he’d really
fucked up.

* * * *

Having Slater practically beg her to stay
and talk made her run. Okay, that wasn’t quite right and Jess knew
it. She’d seen his power first hand at the meet and greet, and the
way the wolves just fell under his spell. Not a single wolf even
tried to shake her hand after he warned them.

Why didn’t he have the same sway over
her?

Oh, he had sway over her, but strictly of a
sexual nature. She wanted him bad, and seeing his moonlight kissed
body only churned the desire deeper. Slater stood before her in all
of his naked glory with his long hair loose and falling around his
shoulders. Something about his neatly trimmed beard contrasted just
right, giving him the perfect balance between rugged and contained
feral power. The moonlight had highlighted his beautifully sculpted
sleek muscle.

Thank God she had the sense to leave when
she did. Otherwise she would have pounced on him. Had he even
realized he was thick, proud and standing at attention? Then that
vision of him in the lake entered her mind and she could feel him
moving deep inside her.

Before she could turn around and run right
back to him, she forced the change so hard it hurt. She had to lean
against the railing as her body settled back into her human form.
She all but tore through her door and slammed it shut.

She wanted to scream, but was sure he’d hear
her and come running, wondering what the hell was wrong with her.
Last thing she wanted to do was see him again, and definitely not
naked.

A glance at the clock proved it was too late
to call her sister or Fallon. Maybe a hot bath would help. Except,
she could see him over her, water beading on his golden skin, his
wet hair trailing over her breasts as he bent to nip at her taught
nipple.

With a groan, she squeezed her thighs
together but that only made her crave him more. She hadn’t even
touched him, and she was having sex visions about him. They were
too vivid, too real to be just fantasy.

“No, no, no, no,” she muttered as she
hurried to her room. “No Alpha’s, no Slater, no wolves.” She
flopped back on the bed and threw her arm over her face, but then
she could see him pushing her legs open to take a long lick of her
slick heat, and felt his beard graze over her sensitized flesh.

Jess couldn’t control her desire. She needed
to relieve the pressure and slid her fingers down her body. She
jumped at the contact when she circled her clit, and moaned deep in
her throat.

Christ, she was close from a few damned
visions. Her fingers slid in and she imagined it was his fingers,
his touch. She flew apart. Lying there, she tried to catch her
breath but knew she was far from satisfied.

With a groan, she rolled over and dug around
inside her bedside table for her favorite toy.

Jess never managed to get to sleep thanks to
a grumpy Alpha that she wanted to lick from head to toe. Slater was
going to drive her crazy for all the wrong reasons. He didn’t do
his wolves, and she didn’t do wolves, most certainly not
Alphas.

So really, what the fuck?

She felt like a zombie, but she needed to
get some work done. Hopefully it would take her mind off of Slater
so she didn’t have to resort to locking herself in her office to
flick her switch. The keyword was
hopefully
.

Grumbling to herself, she grabbed a cart and
headed into the store.

A prissy high-pitched voice snarled her
eardrums. “And you are?”

Jess turned around to find a glamazon in
four inch stilettos glaring down at her. She wasn’t impressed and
rolled her eyes before walking away.

The other woman huffed in irritation and
followed. Her shoes clicked on the cement floor as she rushed to
catch up. “I asked you a question.”

Whatever the woman was, Jess smelled magic.
That didn’t bother her. It was doubtful she would be stupid enough
to start shit in public. She kept walking.

“Dacia, do you have a good reason to hassle
my
wolf?” Slater’s voice was full of menace and the way he
said
my
made her pulse quicken.

Jess closed her eyes and breathed deep. She
scented his anger, and wondered what his problem was. Then again,
what the hell was he doing there?

“Is your wolf shy, Slater? Or does she
already know that Brody’s mine? Is she afraid of me?” she
sing-songed in a snarky tone. “She should be.” Her laugh was cold
and shrill like her voice.

Jess flipped back around and narrowed her
eyes. “Afraid? No. Irritated? Oh, hell yeah. I’m not interested in
Brody or any other wolf, or man. Not that it’s any of your damned
business. Somehow, I doubt you’re Brody’s type. If you can sway
him, be my guest, but good luck with that. He doesn’t seem too
interested in women.” She spun back around and went back to
shopping.

Dacia growled, “You obviously don’t know who
I am.”

“Nor do I care,” Jess flippantly called over
her shoulder before pushing her cart down another aisle. Slater let
out a boisterous laugh that made her grin like a fool. The last
thing she needed was to like the way the man laughed.

“First off, Dacia, Brody has no interest in
you. Second, like Jess said, she isn’t looking for a man. Just
leave her the hell alone.” Slater had a dangerous edge to his voice
that made her shiver. Then his heavy footfalls followed her and she
fought back any reaction to him.

Shit, she didn’t want to have a conversation
with the man. Not right then, not when those mini-visions were so
fresh in her mind and she craved his touch. She took a few deep
breaths, and called up all of the cringe worthy details of waking
up next to Gregory. It left a sour look on her face.

Maybe he’d assume she was disgusted with him
and leave her the hell alone. If only she could be that lucky. She
wished there was a way to avoid him all together, but that wasn’t
an option when you were a part of the pack.

“Hey, Jess. Can we talk?” He asked softly
and she felt him closer than she wanted. She turned around, and he
was there, just out of reach. “Look, I know I was a dick last
night. I apologize.”

“Yeah, got it.” She held her hand up to stop
him. “Look, you don’t need to explain. Whatever crawled up your ass
is gone. We’re good. You’re not interested. I’m not interested.
Let’s leave it at that.” She managed a pleasant smile hoping to
soften the harsh tone.

A shadow flittered through Slater’s gray
eyes but he nodded. “I want us to be friends, Jess. I want us to
get along. I don’t want any unnecessary tension between us.”

She snorted. If that were true, he wouldn’t
have gotten all territorial over nothing. Taking a calming breath,
she nodded. “Friends then. I really am busy though, so I’m going
back to shopping. It’s going to take a lot of work to remodel the
bar.”

One corner of his full mouth tipped up in a
crooked grin. “May I ask what you plan to do with the place?”

“Rustify it. It just doesn’t work as is.”
Jess offered a smile and turned to go back to her shopping.

“You
are
going to hold last night
against me. Aren’t you?” He sounded so disappointed.

She didn’t want to lie, but she wasn’t sure
how to answer. “Slater, you’ve apologized. I just don’t know what I
think. So please, just drop it. We’ll see how it goes.”

“Why wouldn’t you stay to talk last night?”
There was a longing in his voice, he was almost begging again. Holy
shit, but she wanted to turn and apologize.

Yeah, not happening
. She was smarter
than that.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and
refused to look back. She wasn’t willing to admit that seeing him
like that turned her inside out. It wouldn’t do her any good.