by Eve Langlais
The rumble of a motor drew his attention back to the window and he wondered if the time for his departure had arrived, but no, he didn’t spot Francine’s blue Hyundai Accent. Instead, a sleek motorcycle pulled up out front. Then Mitchell blinked because if he weren’t mistaken, the driver held a present out to the side in one hand as he coasted to a stop. Only once he lowered his arm, did Mitchell notice his passenger. His heart sped up and his jaw dropped as Francine unhooked her arms from around the guy’s waist and slid off the bike.
Of course, this Francine looked vastly different from the high school one he recalled with pigtails and braces, although she remained just as short. But the rest of her, shit, when had her plumpness turned into curves that gave her an hourglass shape? Since when did she have breasts that strained her blouse, and wild red hair that corkscrewed around her face and brought attention to her full-lipped smile? He’d spent so much time avoiding her, he’d not actually ever seen the grown up version. Not that it changed anything.
The driver slid off the bike, and set the present down before he yanked down the bandanna covering the lower half of his face. He then pulled off his helmet, shaking out shaggy black hair, and even from where he stood shielded by the sheer curtains, Mitchell couldn’t miss the masculine grin he threw Francine. It roused his wolf, who growled with hackles raised. Mitchell didn’t bother to stop and try to figure out what about this guy put his beast on edge -or why-suddenly angry, he just stormed out to confront them.
Stomping down the porch steps, Francine turned his way, delight lighting her expression as she saw him. And damn it all if he didn’t feel an answering tug-in his cock. Totally inappropriate. To ignore her and his reaction, he looked at her companion. The strange dude, who’d pulled off his aviator glasses and tucked them in his pocket, flicked him a disinterested glance before letting his gaze stray downwards to ogle Francine’s jean-clad ass. It made Mitchell, both the man and his beast, growl in annoyance.
Coming to a stop before a little girl who’d grown into a much too pretty woman, Mitchell’s terse words wiped the smile off Francine’s face. “And just what the hell do you think you were doing, young lady, riding a motorcycle without a helmet?”
Ire flashed in her eyes, and she planted her fists on rounded hips before retorting. “Whatever happened to ‘Hi, Francine?’ or “How’s it going, Francine?’ I don’t see you in, what, five years, and you freak out because I rode a few miles on a bike without a helmet? I’m a shapeshifter. Short of decapitation, I’ll heal.”
“A few miles?” he shouted back. “It’s at least thirty clicks from here to your place. Your hotshot boyfriend is lucky the cops didn’t pull you over.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she growled. “Although, if he were, what we did together would be none of your business.”
“And might I add, we’d do some very interesting things.” The tanned biker, who this close, Mitchell recognized by scent as some sort of large cat, should have kept his mouth shut. Mitchell’s fist came flying out of nowhere to hit him in the jaw. Not that it rocked the bastard. The big guy took it and grinned wider.
“Is that the best you can do, wolfie? I’ve had human girls give me love taps harder than that.”
A red haze descended over him at that point, and Mitchell couldn’t stop himself from snarling and slamming into the other man, sending them to the ground in a tussling heap, one his wolf entirely approved of.
Damned cat. I’ll teach him to sniff around a guy’s adopted little sister.
Chapter Two
Francine couldn’t stop herself from gaping at the wrestling men. She still couldn’t quite grasp what happened. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Mitchell was jealous. Crazy, of course. He’d made it perfectly clear he didn’t think of her that way.
What didn’t surprise her was the way he’d yelled at her just like he would with his sister Naomi. A part of her wished she could dislike him. After all, look at the way he’d just treated her, and in front of the gorgeous looking stranger who rescued her. Heck, his reluctance to even be in the same room as her should have made kicking him to the curb a cinch. But, she couldn’t stop her heart from beating faster, and her cleft from moistening as she watched the two big men trading blows. If only they would get naked as they fought. Talk about real entertainment.
“Not even here two minutes and already causing trouble, I see,” her friend announced, coming down the steps, her belly leading the way. Behind Naomi strode Javier, his step light as he bounded over the rolling combatants, followed by Ethan, a giant of a man who could recite poetry one evening, and crush a whole team of lacrosse players the next. Naomi was such a lucky bitch.
Pursing her lips, Francine glared at the snarling men. “It was Mitchell who started it. I was just trying to say thanks to the guy who rescued me from the road after my car broke down when Mitchell got all bossy and then attacked him.”
“Hmmm.” Naomi peered at her brother pensively for a moment. “Interesting. I wonder what set him off?”
“He’s your brother. Since when does anybody in your family need a reason to fight?” Francine said dryly. She’d often joked they should hand helmets out at the door.
Naomi laughed. “True. But they’re usually better behaved when they come over. You know how Ethan gets when they upset me.”
Francine snorted. Naomi kept insisting she was a delicate freakn’ flower-Not!-and both her mates treated her like one. Ethan usually acted as the peacemaker-his huge fist acting as a deterrent to misbehavior-while Javier used his smooth tongue to ensure nothing disturbed her, not even her family. Again, luckiest skank alive.
“So who is the hottie anyway?” Francine asked, wincing as Mitchell bashed the biker’s head onto the ground. She then bit her lip as the tanned stranger head butted him back.
“That would be my baby brother, Alejandro,” Javier said with a shake of his head as he slid his arm around Naomi’s rounded middle. “And, as usual, he’s causing shit wherever he goes.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” Francine said in his defense. “Mitchell swung first.”
Javier chuckled. “They always swing first when Alejandro’s around, usually because he’s done or said something he shouldn’t.”
Remembering his innuendo, Francine couldn’t deny it. Even funnier, though, she’d enjoyed it.
The combatants rolled off the walkway, still trying to get the upper hand, onto the lawn. Their brawl brought them precariously close to a well-ordered cluster of blooms, hand planted by Naomi.
“Ethan, they’re going to crush my pretty flowers,” Naomi barked, more concerned about her garden than her brother’s now bleeding nose.
With a quirk of his lips, Naomi’s big teddy bear bent over, grabbed the fighters by the arms and yanked them apart. “Enough, or I’ll beat you both,” he rumbled.
Few people were stupid enough to mess with a Kodiak bear, and these two, despite their heated blood, were no exception. Mitchell stumbled to his feet with a glower while Alejandro lay there with a grin and messy hair that made him even sexier. “But we were just getting to know each other.”
Mitchell growled. His fists, clenched at his side, turned almost white in direct contrast to his bright red, extremely annoyed expression.
“Stop pissing off Naomi’s brother or I’ll let Ethan have a go at you,” Javier warned.
“I could use the exercise,” added the bear with a vicious smile that made more than one lacrosse player on the floor run the other way.
Alejandro laughed before springing to his feet. Ignoring a still bristling Mitchell, he headed to Naomi, enveloping her in a gentle hug. “Naomi, my sweet sister-in-law, you look more gorgeous each time I see you. If you weren’t already taken…”
“Yes, I know, we’d fuck like wild animals until the next cutie caught your eye.”
“Ah, but we’d have so much fun until that happened,” he said with a wink.
While Francine found their byplay entertaining, her wolf, for some reason, didn�
��t, and growled in her head.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to listen to her bitch’s weird pms-ing for long as Javier yanked Alejandro from Naomi’s arms. Javier squeezed him in a hug and said in a low tone, not low enough for shifter ears to miss, “Grab her ass again, and I’ll cut off your hand.”
“Brother, you wound me,” Alejandro replied, hugging his older sibling back before escaping.
“Not as much as I will,” Ethan announced in a cheerful voice. Alejandro blanched a bit, but shook the bear’s hand, grunting when Ethan snagged him in a bear hug.
When he released him, Alejandro looked red in the face as his chest heaved for air.
Naomi laughed. “Javier, you and your brothers almost make my family look normal.”
“God forbid,” her mate replied, rolling his eyes. “I guess I should introduce everyone starting with the little trouble maker here. This is Alejandro, my youngest and most annoying brother.” Facing his brother he said, “The guy who is trying to kill you with his gaze is Naomi’s brother, Mitchell. And the redhead you somehow kidnapped on your way in is Naomi’s best friend, which means off limits, Francine.”
Francine could only sputter. “Javier!”
“What? I’m just making things clear now because I’d hate to have to kick his ass later.”
“Such a good husband,” Naomi purred, patting his arm. “He knows which side of his bread to butter.”
Francine could only roll her eyes as her best friend and her mate gazed at each other sappily. When they exchanged a smooch, she put a finger in her mouth and pretended to gag, which made Alejandro chuckle while Mitchell just frowned. Spoilsport.
“Francine, is that the name of the vision of loveliness I found languishing on the road?” Alejandro threw himself on a knee in front of Francine who blushed as he continued to wax poetic. “It was such an honor and a pleasure for me to be able to aide you in continuing your journey. Might I say, you can ride with me anytime?” He waggled his brows and gave her a suggestive grin that caused her to blush, giggle-and wet herself in a naughty spot all at once.
“A pleasure,” she murmured, letting him grab her hand and kiss it. The tip of his tongue on her skin along with his lips made her breath catch, and butterflies spontaneously came to life in her tummy. She snatched her hand back, her cheeks heating at the reaction of her body, a reaction that didn’t go unnoticed.
Snorting, Mitchell stalked off, muttering, “You’ve got to be freakn’ kidding me. Who the fuck falls for that shit?”
Watching him go, Francine couldn’t stop her sigh of disappointment.
“What is it, baby? Don’t tell me you’re sorry to see that stick in the mud go?”
“That uptight stick is my mate, or will be once he lets himself unbend enough to see it,” she retorted.
With an incredulous look, Alejandro looked at Mitchell’s retreating form then back at her. “He’s an idiot if he can’t see what a prize you are.”
“The idiot gene runs in the family. I should know,” snorted Naomi. “Now, can we go inside? My back is killing me and I want to open presents.”
Francine lingered for a moment, watching the direction Mitchell disappeared in, wondering what it would take to make him claim her. Did his wolf not get agitated whenever they met? Of course, they’d not seen each other in years, through no fault of her own. That man knew how to freakn’ run and hide. But still, seeing him again, all delicious six-foot-three inches of him, her bitch went haywire, her heart sped up, and a tingle swept through her body.
Which, oddly enough, also happened when I met Alejandro. Could she have mistaken the mating urge all these years with pure and simple lust? But no, she’d known desire before, and it didn’t make her want to throw her self-respect to the wind and chase after him so she could tackle his lanky frame and tear off his clothes.
She would have pondered it some more, but she found herself grabbed and thrown over a shoulder, a wide one.
“Um, Ethan, wrong woman.”
“Naomi said to carry your mooning ass inside.”
“I’m sure she didn’t mean that literally.”
“She’s pregnant and extremely hormonal. I’m not taking chances.”
“I heard that!” Naomi hollered.
“See,” Ethan whispered.
A giggle escaped Francine. Some people might have called her nuts for wanting to belong to this family, but personally, she couldn’t imagine anything more awesome, even if most family dinners required a person to wear a helmet and padding for protection. Still, despite the violent tendencies, the love they all had for each other more than made up for it.
* * * *
Alejandro hit the bathroom first to wash the dust and blood off his face before he grabbed a beer. He needed the bitter brew to help him assimilate what had just happened. Chugging it, though, didn’t give him enough time to wonder why the little redhead he’d picked up on his way made his cat purr. Or why he wanted to beat the hell out of that upstart wolf-and still did. It especially didn’t answer why he wanted to commit suicide by launching himself at Ethan, who carried the little firecracker inside.
Thankfully, he stayed alive, managing to curb his impulse to attack the giant Kodiak when he set Francine down. However, it did nothing to curb the interest of his cat, who prowled in his mind, suggesting he get closer to her for a sniff.
But despite her allure, he needed to stay away. After all, he was simply a guest here for a short time while the troubles back home calmed. Entertaining himself with her, while fun, probably wasn’t worth the hassle because the lady in question was spoken for, kind of. Not that he cared what that arrogant idiot Mitchell thought. It was his sister-in-law, Naomi, that scared him. If he hurt her best friend, chances were he’d end up missing a body part or two.
However, deciding to give Francine a wide berth and doing so proved two completely different things. As if he owned no control over his own body, he found himself immediately going to stand behind her when she sank onto Naomi’s couch beside an older woman. She ignored him, and miffed at the unusualness of it, he did the same back, perusing the crowd in the room.
Alejandro didn’t know most of the people, having only visited once before on a stopover. He’d gotten to know Naomi when Javier brought her home to show off to his family. The visit ended up vastly entertaining as Javier-his older, lusty brother-showed a possessive streak none of them ever encountered before. It made their flirting with his mate so much fun, until Naomi put a stop to it, her grip on Miguel’s balls leaving him squeaking for days as she explained that while she found it funny how they taunted Javier, if they touched her again, she’d rip them off. Somehow, they didn’t doubt her ability to do so.
What a woman, even if she’s not my type. He preferred not to worry about getting hurt when he slept with a woman. His gaze dropped to the top of Francine’s head. He couldn’t see the little firecracker hurting a fly.
Sliding into the vacated spot beside Francine, he couldn’t stop the jolt of awareness that made his body flare to life as his thigh brushed hers. A sharp inhalation of her breath told him she felt it too. She turned startled eyes his way and he grinned, enjoying the blush that crept into her freckled cheeks.
While not gorgeous by model standards, he couldn’t deny her girl next door appeal. Wild-haired, bright-eyed, and with lips that could only improve if they wrapped around his cock, she owned a set of curves begging for a man’s touch. What an idiot that Mitchell was for not claiming her. I could bite her and steal her out from under him, then the little wolf would belong to me. He almost recoiled from her when his thoughts veered into that unknown territory. Alejandro did not claim women. Flirt with them, fuck them, and make them cry as he left, yes, but mark one to keep as his own? Why bind himself to one when he could enjoy a variety?
It occurred to him that the challenge she posed with her I’m-taken-but-not stance probably made her appealing. Anything else was just foolish, or caused by a lack of sleep. He’d needed to put as many miles as
possible between him and a certain situation he fled.
“Are you going to stare at me all night, or are you mentally conversing with aliens?” she asked, breaking his inner train of thought.
He recovered quickly. “Just wondering how that overgrown dog hasn’t recognized what a gem you are?”
Again, that beautiful blush colored her cheeks. “Mitchell has issues with seeing me as something other than a sister. Naomi and I have been hanging out since we were babies. Apparently, that makes getting with me gross.”
“I’d say he’s a moron if he hasn’t noticed you’ve grown up, and might I say, nicely.” He flashed her the hundred watt grin that dropped panties wherever he went.
Hers stayed intact. A snort escaped her. “My God, are you always like this?”
“Like what? Charming and handsome?”
“Conceited and flirty.”
“Now you wound me,” he said, clasping her hand and pressing it to his chest. Again, a jolt went through him and his heart rate increased.
“I doubt it,” she replied, but her eyes remained locked to his and she didn’t pull away.
“Alejandro, stop flirting with my brother’s almost mate and come over here to meet my family.” With regret, he let go of her hand, and she ducked her head as he stood. Thank God my leather pants are tight, he thought as he made sure his untucked t-shirt hung over his groin, further hiding his semi-erection.
I really need to get laid if a simple conversation at a baby shower is making me horny. He usually enjoyed better self-control.
Linking her arm in his, Naomi dragged him around, introducing him to folks scattered around the room. He shook hands with several of her brothers, none of whom gave him an urge to punch their lights out like the annoying Mitchell. He met her uncomfortable-looking father, Geoffrey, and several aunts and cousins. He fawned over Naomi’s mother’s hand, which made the older woman laugh and her husband glare. By the time they’d come full circle, his head spun with names and faces, the place packed with shifters. Judging by the tic on Ethan’s face, he recognized the possibility of an explosion with so many animals in one place. And everyone knew how Naomi disliked chaos in her house.