Hard to Handle

by Fel Fern

  “Those aren’t good for you.”

  “Who are you to decide what’s good for me or not?” Dang it. Max was doing it again. Becoming all antagonistic for no reason.

  “Your bodyguard,” Grant said with a shrug. “I’m throwing all those pills out.”

  Max glowered at him. “Impossible man. Fine. I’ll take a glass of milk.”

  The shifter left to get him a glass. Max clutched the blanket closer to his body. He began to shiver. Maybe he’d set the air conditioner too low. He reached for his phone, which had an app that connected him to the security system and controls of the apartment.

  Increasing the temperature didn’t help. The chill came from inside of him, he realized. Max tried to put a brave front earlier, but maybe that close call with Bruiser really did a number on him. Where was Grant? Was he taking his time?

  Seconds must’ve only passed, but Max felt more anxious. This room was too damn big. So was the rest of the apartment. Thank God Grant hadn’t gone home yet, because Max didn’t think he could remain alone here.

  What possessed him to buy such a big apartment anyway? Just because he could. That was his answer for everything, but now, he felt a little foolish.

  “Milk,” Grant said, interrupting his thoughts. “Careful. I warmed it up a little.”

  Max accepted the glass Grant handed him.

  “Why are you still here?” Crap. Max wanted to thank him for staying, not sound accusatory.

  Grant raised one eyebrow. “You want me to leave? Can’t. Your father grudgingly agreed to put off talking to you tomorrow on the condition I watch over you like a hawk.”

  That information gave Max a measure of relief. He felt safe with Grant around. Untouchable.

  “Don’t you have anyone to come home to?” he asked, suddenly feeling guilty his dad made Grant stay over.

  “Gill. My younger brother, but the hospital’s taking good care of him.”

  “What? Your brother’s in the hospital? What happened?” He grabbed Grant’s hand unthinkingly. “I’ll call my dad. He’ll send someone over to cover for you.”

  Grant shook his head. “It’s fine. Gill was in an accident, but he’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  Max gave him a skeptical look.

  “Finish your milk.”

  Max pulled his fingers away and downed his milk. He handed it to Grant, only for the dominant shifter to reach out and use his thumb to swipe lingering milk droplets off his bottom lip. Max wanted Grant to keep touching him, but the shifter pulled away, although Max had a feeling Grant was reluctant to do so.

  “Stay with me tonight. Please.” The words came out of Max’s mouth by reflex. Grant frowned at him. Max felt the need to explain. “Everything in this apartment, this room included, feels massive. I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

  Grant looked around his bedroom and, to no one’s surprise, sank into the armchair next to the bed.

  “I feel safe already,” he said drily. Was this man a saint? Max was at Grant’s complete disposal. Grant only needed to crawl into bed with him, rip off the boxers Max wore. Flip him to all fours and rut him like an animal.

  “You know, there’s plenty of space for the two of us.”

  “I decline.”

  Not wanting to appear any more desperate, Max lifted the comforter until it was right under his chin. He curled on his side, away from the infuriating werewolf.

  “Sweet dreams, Max,” were the last words Max heard before sleep finally took him.

  Chapter 5

  Grant couldn’t catch a wink, not with his human splayed a few feet from him in bed. Sometime during the night, or was it only a few minutes ago, Max had chucked away the comforter. Max snored loudly, so Grant grew pretty certain Max had truly fallen asleep.

  His human reminded him of a starfish, arms and legs spread out across the entire king-sized bed. Plenty of space for him to join in. That was clearly an invitation. His wolf practically pushed him to stripping out of his clothes and getting down and dirty with their intriguing human.

  When, Grant wondered, had he started seeing Max as his?

  Max belonged to no one and pursuing this challenging and sexy human would have dire consequences. Daniel was very protective of his human son to the extent the Alpha would hire someone like Grant to keep Max in check.

  How would Max react once he found out this was Grant’s first babysitting, well, bodyguard job? After a decade of following someone else’s orders, Grant and his remaining buddies had decided to go private. Some tried the civilian life. Grant couldn’t get it to work for him.

  Find his mate. Build a home. Live happily ever after.

  Bullshit. Guys like him with blood on his hands had to pay for his crimes sooner or later. Grant had been a private contractor before Daniel sought him out. There was plenty of killing to go around, but he wanted to try something different, promised Gill he’d do it. Here he was.

  Now, he wasn’t so sure what was more dangerous—staying a second longer here or being in a hostile territory, rifle at his shoulder.

  Temptation. That was one word to describe Max. Awake, he wanted to shut Max up most of the time. The human loved to argue with him, knew how to get under his nerves, but asleep? Max looked like an angel, even flopped like that in bed. Careless black hair Grant wanted to run his fingers through fell across Max’s face.

  “Grant,” Max murmured in his sleep.

  Was the human thinking about him? Grant wasn’t blind. He saw the way Max looked at him. Max knew Grant wanted him as well. It took all of his self-discipline to remain where he was and not cross the line.

  Grant couldn’t even get through a full twenty hours of his new job and he wanted to screw it up already. He wasn’t afraid of Daniel, although he should be. Max’s father didn’t just control the largest pack in the city, but also owned several businesses.

  He also had Gill to think about. Right now, his brother was under the best doctors in the world thanks to his arrangement with Daniel. He owed Max’s father plenty, and here was Grant, lusting after Max like some lovesick puppy.

  Max repeated his name again. Grant could feel his dick growing hard. He should get out of this room, splash some cold water on his face. He got to his feet, was halfway to the door when Max spoke again.

  “Don’t leave me.”

  Grant’s breathing turned harsh. He felt like the world’s biggest bastard for thinking these inappropriate thoughts about Max. Although it took everything out of him, Grant sat his ass back down in the armchair. Max turned on his side and opened bleary, green eyes at him.

  The human looked barely awake, but his words convinced Grant to stay the rest of the night. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  Max closed his eyes again and snored softly.

  Grant let out a breath. This must be the definition of sheer torture. He’d been in enemy hands before, had endured chains, blades, and all kinds of sinister implements against his skin. That experience paled in comparison to this, being so close to something, someone he badly wanted. Being denied.

  Daniel believed him to be an honorable man despite all he’d seen and done. The Alpha made a mistake in choosing him. Grant had been this close to breaking the rules and taking Max for himself. He shut his eyes, tried to think of less sexy thoughts.

  Grant slowed his breathing, thought of dead bodies. It worked. He opened his eyes to find Max groaning and twisting on the bed. Goosebumps appeared across Max’s skin. Grant rose, sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled the covers over Max’s body. With shaking fingers, he pushed the hair out of Max’s face.

  “It’s just a bad dream, Max. Snap out of it,” he said, wondering if his words reached his human. Max stilled when Grant touched his shoulder. With reluctance, he pulled away.

  Grant made Max a promise, even if his human wouldn’t remember any of this in the morning. “I’m right here. No one’s ever going to hurt you again. They’ll have to go through me first.”

  * * * *

  “Some
thing wrong with your food? You haven’t taken a single bite.”

  Grant’s comment made Max stop playing with his omelet. “No, the food’s great. Thanks for making me breakfast.”

  “I didn’t. I dropped by the nearby diner earlier this morning.”

  So that was the reason why Max woke up to an empty room. Grant had stayed the entire night with him, fulfilled his promise. He was sure of it. He’d woken up a few times to use the bathroom, and seeing Grant sitting there gave him a measure of relief. Grant even comforted him when he was having a nightmare, or was that a pleasant dream?

  “I don’t know how to face my dad,” he admitted, taking a sip of his coffee.

  They were sitting in the kitchen counter. Max didn’t know how to cook. Most of the time, he ate out or ordered in out of convenience.

  “I’m sure Daniel can be reasonable.”

  Max nearly spat out his coffee. “Reasonable? Are you sure we’re talking about the same man here? What exactly did you tell him?”

  Grant still wore the same plain white shirt and jeans as the night before, but somehow, under the morning light, the werewolf looked more rough and sexy than ever. Max tried to focus on Grant’s face, not his body. Dang it. The moment Grant entered his radar, Max couldn’t think about any other man.

  He’d taken a long time showering, because he masturbated to the erotic fantasies of Grant walking in on him and taking him against the tiled wall.

  “I told him what he needed to know.”

  Max scowled at Grant. “Gee. Thanks.”

  “Your interaction with Bruiser could’ve been better, but him cornering you in that alleyway? None of that was your fault.”

  Hearing Grant defend him made him feel a little better.

  “I know shifters have short tempers. I’ve grown up in a werewolf pack after all,” Max said. “I’ve been in a bad place lately. That’s all.”

  “Bad place?”

  “I just broke up with someone, okay? I went to that club, hoping to forget him. I ended up driving away my best friend and nearly getting—” Max didn’t finish. He couldn’t. If Grant hadn’t come along, he wouldn’t be alive and kicking today.

  “Hey,” Grant said, reaching out to touch his hand. “It’s all in the past, and I’m sure your dad was just worried about you.”

  “Growing up in a house full of werewolves, one would think I’d never get lonely, but I was.” Max didn’t know why he told Grant that, because he’d never told anyone the truth before. “I was the only human there. Know what that feels like?”

  “No.”

  “Like I’m an outsider, only capable of looking in. It took me a long time to understand I’ll never be like one of them. My dad, he did his best raising me, but he’s an Alpha. He’s always busy, taking care of one problem or another.”

  “Is that why you acted out in the past?”

  “Maybe.” Max wanted his father’s attention. Plain and simple. Admitting to Grant that he acted like a spoiled brat made him feel ashamed of how he’d been acting. “Do you believe someone like me is capable of change?”

  “Anyone is, although it’s not easy.” Grant withdrew his hand. Max wished he didn’t. “Finish your breakfast.”

  Max shoveled more food in his mouth, but he barely tasted the eggs and bacon. The next thing he knew, Grant was ushering him out the front door.

  “Wait,” he blurted, looking down at his plain shirt and jeans. “I should change into something else.”

  “Why? You look fine. I prefer you like this, dressed down. Casual.”

  For some reason, those words made him blush. “Yeah?”

  “Stop being nervous. You’re just meeting your father.”

  “Believe me, it’s going to be hell,” Max grumbled. Talking things out with Grant helped a little, but once again, he was apprehensive. Nervous. “I know one thing that’ll help me feel less nervous.”

  Grant gave him a suspicious look but nonetheless asked him, “What’s that?”

  “A kiss from you.”

  Chapter 6

  Grant stared at Max in disbelief. This human really had balls of steel to make demands of him. Well, Max asked this time and Grant had to admit. Max begging a kiss from him? That was sweet, endearing almost.

  The right thing to do was refuse him, but Max flashed him those hurt, green, puppy dog eyes. If he said no, would Max act like a kicked dog? Grant had, by some miracle, held himself back last night, but the desire only came back twice as strong. He gave Max a little push against the wall.

  He could hear it. Max’s elevated heartbeats. Max’s pupils dilated and Max parted his mouth slightly. Another invitation. Grant ran his fingers up Max’s throat, used one thumb to trace the shape of Max’s bottom lip. Mischief lit the daring human’s eyes, and Max sucked on his thumb.

  The vision of Max wrapping those lips around his cock, not his finger, rose in his head. His dick came to life. His jeans felt a lot tighter.

  A growl tore out of his chest, but Max didn’t seem frightened of him at all. He pulled his fingers away, gripped Max’s chin, and zeroed in for a kiss. Sweetness exploded on his tongue. Max was nothing like anything he’d ever tasted before.

  He thought Max would be pliant, but the human nibbled, sucked, pushed him over the edge. Grant slipped his tongue down Max’s throat, only for the human to suck down hard on it. The little incubus was asking for it.

  With no space between them, Grant was aware of his own body, pressing up against Max’s smaller, leaner one. It would be so easy to partially shift his hands to claws and rip away all the fabric that got in the way.

  Not yet, he told his wolf. As much as he loathed to do it, Grant put some distance between them only to see Max panting, looking at him with a look of confusion on his face.

  “We’re running late,” Grant told him.

  “Then why did you kiss me?”

  “So you’d stop worrying about your meeting with your father.”

  Max let out a laugh, which only made his dick jump. “Kisses don’t make everything better.”

  “They don’t? We’ll see.” Just because he could do it, Grant stole another quick and sharp kiss from his human.

  Max placed a hand on his chest, which made him stop. “Don’t or I’ll beg you to undress me and have me here.”

  “Tempting, but business first.”

  “You ass,” Max muttered. They left the apartment. A car waited for them downstairs, along with James. Max looked at him.

  “We’re not taking your bike?” Max asked.

  “Not today,” he confirmed, nodding to James and opening the car door for Max.

  Was it his imagination or did Max seemed disappointed they weren’t taking his bike? Grant would’ve preferred if it was just the two of them, but they needed to do things the proper way. A car offered more protection than a motorcycle.

  Would it be odd if he sat next to Max? Grant decided to sit in the front with James. Once they both got in, James started the engine.

  “Max, I’m truly sorry about yesterday,” the other werewolf said. “I had trouble maneuvering through traffic.”

  Grant glanced at Max through the sideview mirror.

  “It’s fine, James. I shouldn’t have asked you to wait around or head to that club in the first place,” Max answered.

  James, he noticed, looked momentary surprised by Max’s answer. Grant had spoken to James on the phone while Max was getting ready. James had told him Max was impossible, spoiled, and unreasonable. Perhaps those adjectives were all true, but Grant knew Max could be straightened out. Underneath all that, Max had plenty of good in him.

  Max didn’t speak a single word the entire ride. Grant didn’t blame him. They reached the gates leading to the Daniel’s pack house in half an hour. The extensive property and the mansion and grounds were home to the members of the Goldcrest Pack. Grant wondered if it was ever home to Max, because he couldn’t imagine what it was like, being the only human amongst werewolves.

  Probably not
easy. From what Max had confided to him, Daniel wasn’t much of a father either, not with so many other werewolves to take care of. Max’s personality and how Max acted started to make a little more sense to him.

  “Max, we’re here,” he said, getting out of the car and opening the door for Max.

  Grant noticed the werewolves guarding the front door and nodded to them. They gave him grunts. To them, Grant was probably an outsider, but their Alpha still trusted him to guard Max. They probably didn’t know what to make of him.

  “You okay?” he asked Max.

  “Of course. What do you take me for?”

  Grant couldn’t hide his smile. There he was. Max might he human, but he could’ve been mistaken for a shifter. Maybe Max used that fierceness as an armor growing up.

  “Rich, Leo. I’m here to see my father,” Max said as he strode towards the door.

  Grant decided to play the role of silent bodyguard today and said nothing, let Max take the lead. He was intrigued how Max could act vulnerable with him in private and become this bossy human the next.

  “Alpha’s expecting you in the yard,” Rich said.

  “The yard?” Max crinkled his nose. “He knows I dislike the outdoors.”

  “How can one dislike the outdoors?” Grant couldn’t help but ask.

  Max glared at him, before stomping further inside the house.

  “He’s a handful, isn’t he?” Rich asked.

  “He is, but I know how to handle him.”

  Leo chuckled. “Best of luck.”

  With his long legs and speed, he easily caught up to Max. They reached the living area. Max went to the glass doors which opened up to the backyard and garden. Daniel Shepard paused from his conversation with another werewolf when he noticed their arrival.

  Grant had glimpsed the yard when he’d been to the house the first time. Daniel’s great-grandfather had planted tall oaks and pines all over the property, with the intention to provide the pack a small patch of forest. A mini wilderness despite the pack house being located in the city.

  “We’ll talk more later, Arnold,” Daniel told the other werewolf. “Max. I trust you had a good rest last night?”