Authors: Bonnie Vanak
I’ll show him a rough time. Give him a good kick in the face and watch him bleed…
The sudden, ugly thought disgusted her. Jessica felt more upset by the thought than Daniel’s odd behavior. What was happening to her? Daniel was a traumatized child.
Setting down the glass with a shaky hand, she tried to gather her lost composure. “It’s a belt. Nothing more.”
“It is bad. Bad power.” Then the boy blinked hard and looked around, seemingly confused. “Why is everyone staring at me? Did I go into a trance again?”
Dark thoughts filled her head. Jessica looked at Daniel, saw his lower lip tremble and forced the bad thoughts away. Her heart ached for him. Damn if he didn’t remind her of those days when she was little and among strangers, who stared at her hair as if she had snakes growing from her head. So abnormal, a redheaded Lupine. Different.
Different like Daniel, who was only a kid. With his mop of dark hair, big blue eyes and woebegone look, he resembled her little foster brother Russ after he’d done something naughty.
She took Daniel’s hand and squeezed it. “It’s okay, honey. They were just staring at me, at my silly hair. ’Cause I forgot to comb it and I look like I plugged myself into an electrical outlet. Wowza! Instant curly hair!”
Daniel’s forlorn expression faded, replaced with a wide grin. “Oh yeah?”
Jessica ruffled her curls. “Don’t try it at home. Trust me, Daniel, always comb your hair when you get up or you’ll look like me. Wild wolf.”
She gave a long, low howl. Daniel laughed and the other children joined in, trying to imitate her. Everyone else laughed.
The tension broken, everyone started talking again. But J.J. kept studying her.
He sipped coffee and frowned. “Daniel’s right. That belt, there’s something strange about it.”
Alexa nodded. “He’s right, Jess. I don’t like it. It seems…different.”
Fisting her hands in her lap to hide their shaking, she forced a smile. Her only pretty accessory, and they criticized it as if she wore something gaudy. They had enough money to buy a store filled with accessories. “If you don’t like it, I’ll put it away. I wouldn’t want to offend.”
J.J. shrugged. “It’s your clothing. But if I were you, I wouldn’t wear it.”
Jessica pushed back her plate. “Thanks for breakfast. I’ll go change now.”
“Jess,” Alexa began.
She waved a hand. “Your house, your rules. You don’t like it, I’ll put it away. It’s not like I need it to keep my pants up. With my hefty weight, I don’t have to worry about my jeans falling down.”
Alexa’s mouth wobbled. “Jess you never make fun of your weight. What’s going on?”
Pushing back from the table, she stared at her best friend, the only other female besides Molly who truly understood her, who supported her without hesitation. Alexa had included Jessica in her family’s celebration upon graduating from the University of Florida. Alexa had made sure Jess didn’t feel left out when none of her adopted family couldn’t scrape together the money for the long flight.
Alexa had done so much for her.
But now she was mated, and her loyalties lay elsewhere.
“Nothing.”
“Jessica, you haven’t finished your breakfast,” J.J. said gently. “Please, eat.”
“Not hungry. It’s okay. I’ll grab something later.”
You don’t like this belt
because you don’t own it and it’s mine, all mine. Back off, before I hit you.
This time the bad thought didn’t startle her. It scared her.
Jessica went to her room and removed the belt. The dark thoughts swimming in her mind lifted.
Maybe it was evil, like Daniel had hinted.
Evil, clogging her mind, filling it with nasty thoughts.
A lump clogged her throat as she ran her fingers over the stones. Alexa had her parents, her family. All she had was this purple belt that the mother she never knew might have worn. It remained the only connection to her past. Surely the belt wasn’t evil if it belonged to her family.
Jessica felt the warmth of the stones, and they comforted her.
She tucked the belt into her suitcase and placed her Days of the Week panties over it. No one would search her suitcase. Or dig through her underwear.
A knock came at the door. She opened it and saw Raphael, a computer case in one hand, and her spirits lifted. “You rang?”
He flashed a crooked grin. “I see you finally decided to wake up and greet the world. Did you have a restless night?”
Why was it this handsome, sarcastic Lupine with his sexy smile made her feel all warm and pliant, forgetting the isolation she’d felt at dinner and at the breakfast table? Around Alexa, her mate and her family, Jessica was reminded of the differences that set her apart. She felt cold and lonely around them. But Raphael was curling up with hot cider on a winter’s night, spicy and intoxicating. She licked her lips.
“As a matter of fact, I did.”
Gone was the smile. He looked deadly serious. “What happened? Anything unusual?”
Remembering the feel of his hot mouth sliding wetly across her most intimate flesh, Jessica felt a flush ignite her cheeks. “You might say so.”
A frown dented his dark brows. “Did someone threaten you?”
He looked ready to storm the castle, slay her dragons. The thought was absurd, yet deeply touching. “No, just a weird dream.”
“Oh.” Raphael looked down at her. “What kind of dream?”
The flush deepened. “Just a dream, you know, those dreams…”
That make you hot and sweaty and the sheets wet beneath your thighs…
“Was I in it?”
Blinking she looked away. He asked the question again, the deep timbre of his husky voice sliding across her skin like warm silk. Jessica crossed her legs, wanting to squirm.
From embarrassment or sexual need, she wasn’t certain.
“Yes.”
Expecting him to give a knowing smile, or tease her, she watched his frown deepen. “It was a sexual dream.”
Oh boy.
She couldn’t look him in the eye. “Maybe.”
A firm hand upon her chin, lifting her to meet his dark gaze. Raphael’s eyes were liquid onyx, dark, fathomless. A girl could fall into that gaze and drown there, awash in sexual pleasure.
“Tell me the truth, little Red. Was I pleasuring you with my mouth?”
Holy hellfire.
Jessica blinked, unable to maintain eye contact beneath that impervious gaze that scorched like fire, threatened to burn like fire through her veins. She managed a nod.
Dropping his hand, Raphael muttered a quiet curse. She rubbed her mouth. His gaze glittered with desire. “You would taste delicious. More succulent than peach juice. I remember…how you ate the fruit during your last visit.”
Jessica swallowed hard. She remembered how he’d stared at her as if he’d wanted to be the peach, as her tongue glided over the sweet flesh…
“Then why the cursing?”
Raphael gave her a long, thoughtful look. “Because I had the exact same dream last night. On my knees, as you lay upon the bed, your legs open wide. We shared each other’s sleep, it appears.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“It happens to Lupines who are mated, and rarely, to those who are not, but are destined to pair because of the intense sexual chemistry between them.”
Jessica’s jaw dropped as her heart pounded. Surely he jested. But then she realized he was serious. Heat flushed her cheeks. They did share a strong chemistry, but that strong? She tried to think of something sophisticated answer, but all that came out of her mouth was a stammer. “O-oh…wow.”
Great Jess, how to act worldly…
“Yes. Wow.” His mouth quirked slightly. “It is nature’s way of ensuring the species survives, by infusing the pair with such sexual desire, they will do anything to mate. And the mating produces babies.”
Babies. With Raphael. A family of her own, never again feeling left out or like a freak because of her unknown origins. He’d made beautiful babies. Their children, growing up in a big house, with lots of laughter and love, hugs and kisses. She felt all warm and soft, thinking of the future.
Then she glanced up at him and the dream crashed down. Raphael was urbane, charming and mysterious, and worldly. Her destiny lay elsewhere. And he was an alpha, and alphas never wanted Lupines with unknown DNA as mates. Her alpha’s words about her origins came back to haunt her:
The alphas fear what kind of offspring you’d produce.
Silly of her to dream, either of oral sex or a real life with him. Jessica pasted on a bright smile. “Huh. Sounds like an urban legend, the type you’d find on social media that gets passed around until people believe it’s true.”
Raphael blinked and seemed to recover. He held out the case. “J.J. told me you need a laptop. He is giving you this one as a gift.”
Familiar shame filled her. She waved a hand. “I don’t want it. I hate taking charity. I just need to borrow one, that’s all. Is that too much to ask?!”
He studied her expression. “Then borrow this one from J.J.”
Jessica chewed her lower lip, watched his eyes darken. “I don’t want to borrow anything from him, or Alexa. It’s just…”
Helpless, she gave a deep sigh. How could someone like Raphael understand?
“A matter of pride.” Something flickered in his eyes, as if a distant memory haunted him. “You don’t want to be in debt to another, even a good friend.”
Stunned, she nodded. “You sound like you’re familiar with the concept.”
“I am. It has to do with J.J.”
Another glimpse into this mysterious wolf. “You owe him something? What?”
“Yes. Perhaps I will tell you, one day.” He lowered his hand. “Very well. You can use one of mine while you are here. It’s not charity, but a loan.”
She gave him a dubious look. “Is it powerful enough?”
Another crooked grin. “Good gaming computer. 8GB of dedicated memory, 16GB of system RAM, a 256GB SSD boot drive, and 1TB HDD.”
Wow. Jessica’s mouth watered at all that power. Most people didn’t understand how much RAM and memory were required for a gaming laptop. Her foster monster thought a good laptop was a netbook. Then again, considering Arleen’s last computer had been a Commodore…
“Sweet. You know about gaming?”
The grin widened, showing a sharp flash of teeth, accented by the black beard and mustache framing his mouth. The grin, those dreamy eyes…
“A little something. I like to play games.”
His deep, sexy voice made it sound sinful, as if the games he enjoyed required privacy, and nudity. Maybe even a blindfold and restraints.
“I’m pretty particular in my game playing,” she told him. “I only play games intended for Lupines. Ones with strategy, putting an avatar in jeopardy and having him or her get out of it.”
Setting the computer case down, he leaned against the door way. “Such as restraints?”
Jessica sucked in a deep breath. “Yeah, that too.”
“Perhaps tied around the wrists, not too tight, but binding enough. Soft velvet.” Raphael leaned close. “Putting your avatar at the mercy of a predator who wishes to do whatever he pleases to her. And also please her.”
His voice dropped to a whisper, his breath feathering over her ear as he bent down and whispered. “There are many games for Lupines like that. Games such as Wolf Vice. Or Captured & Willing. Perhaps even Erotically Bound.”
All the erotic role-playing games created by The Master, a mysterious Lupine gamer whose cybersex games had sold in the millions. He’d created tamer versions for Skins, with much more violence and military action. But the true erotic ones were for Others only, with little magick treats tossed in. The Master had even included the option for Others to add their own fantasy segments into the game.
Jessica flushed again, realizing he’d named everything in her gaming file online, played only when she had access to her alpha’s’ laptop. It made her gleeful when he went on business trips to borrow his powerful computer to play games he considered wild. She’d even programmed her own version of Erotically Bound, adding a segment in which the willing female captive came into heat and was impregnated by the handsome, pureblood alpha. Of course the female captive was a rogue, like Jessica, with unknown bloodlines.
Take that Dennis. I made babies with a pureblood. On your computer, yet.
“I like a lot of computer games.”
She lifted her chin and dared him to respond. For a moment he studied her, his dark eyes smoldering. Oh, this wolf was bad news. She could scent his interest, how he wanted more than simply her panties.
And you’re not getting it.
“Your heart is beating quite fast and you look flushed,” he murmured.
At a loss for words, she ducked beneath his arm and headed into the kitchen. Jessica grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and drank deeply. Everyone was still lingering over breakfast outside.
“Are you well?” Raphael inquired, following her.
“I was, until you came along.”
“I merely determined some games you might enjoy… Lone Pixie Wolf.” Another wicked smile.