by Renee Rose
“I’d kill you first,” Cody muttered, drawing a raised brow from Melissa. “I could do it.”
Mark tapped the tips of his fingers together, his elbows resting on his knees. “You’re willing?”
“Yeah.”
“You’d be my first choice, too. Mainly because I’d want it to be a wolf and I know you could handle yourself if something went wrong. Like I say, I’d rather we not go that route, though.”
“Any idea where the stolen money might be?” Cody asked Melissa.
She shook her head. “None. We were hardly speaking the last few months and we never were that close.”
His lip curled, but he bit back any questions about why she was living with some asshole she never liked. He’d save those for another time.
“You’re okay keeping her here?” Mark asked. “If not, I can take her up to Denver and provide protection.”
He bristled, even though his brain said he was way better off having her off his hands. “She’ll stay here,” he snapped.
Melissa frowned.
“I can provide adequate protection.”
Mark turned a curious gaze on him. “I wasn’t questioning your ability to provide protection,” the agent said mildly.
“Right.” He knew he sounded surly, but couldn’t help himself. Everything seemed to piss him off when it came to Melissa.
“Well, locals are on the lookout for Jeremy. I’ll send them over to Melissa’s place to see if they can pick up Rabago or his guys for breaking and entering. That doesn’t mean it’s safe to return home, though,” Mark warned Melissa.
She scowled, but nodded.
Mark stood up and he and Melissa both followed suit, shaking hands with him again and seeing him out.
When he left, Cody blew out his breath and put his hands on his hips. This whole thing was a cluster fuck.
* * *
Melissa watched Cody pace around his small living room. A muscle jumped in his jaw, his brows were down low. Even though she hadn’t been the one to call in the favor, regret speared her for getting him involved.
“I don’t want you to bring that money to Rabago,” she spoke from the couch.
He whirled and glared at her. “Why not?”
“You shouldn’t have to risk your life like that. This isn’t your mess and you’ve already done enough to help me. I should bring it.”
“Like hell,” he growled.
“I’m sorry Ben dragged you into this. You don’t even know me and it’s not your stupid drama. I know this is more than you bargained for.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Is it? I gave Stone an alpha’s promise to protect you. That means my life for yours. So yeah. I already signed up for this shit.” He continued to pace, his hands on his hips, nostrils flaring in anger.
She stood up and blocked his path. “What are you so pissed off about, then?”
He cursed and jabbed his fingers through his hair, sending it off in different directions. Holding up a finger, he said, “One, I can’t figure out why you were with this douche in the first place.”
She recoiled, bitterness filling her mouth. “Yeah, well, neither can I, okay?” Her voice had risen in pitch. “I have terrible taste in men, a problem which I soon plan to remedy.” She threw a dark look his way, but flinched when he seemed to read her mind—that he was one of the men she planned to avoid.
He stepped up to her, toe to toe, glaring down. “What is that supposed to mean?”
She flushed but didn’t back down. “It just means I’m done with losers. I’m going to find someone honorable. And stable. And normal.”
And boring.
The muscle in Cody’s jaw jumped again.
She folded her arms across her chest defiantly. “You said one. Was there more?” She didn’t know why she was goading him, why she needed to have this fight, but she did.
“Yeah, there’s more.” She was pretty sure steam was coming out of Cody’s ears. He stopped pacing and lifted his hand to gesticulate, but then seemed to stop himself. “Never mind,” he growled.
“What the hell?” She was totally game for dragging everything out onto the table. “If you don’t want me here, you shouldn’t have told Mark I should stay with you. And by the way, one of you should have asked me what I prefer, don’t you think?”
Cody looked livid. “What do you prefer, princess?” His words came out icy this time, instead of red hot and she registered the change with a bit of shock. Where was all this venom coming from? He pointed to the door. “You prefer Mark to be your protector? Is that it? It’s okay for Ben to drag him into it, but not me? I guess he’s got more of the knight in shining armor thing going with that suit and badge, doesn’t he?”
She jerked as if he’d struck her, and understanding finally dawned. She’d offended his pride. Going soft and swearing he misunderstood wasn’t going to put out this fire. She strode over to him and jabbed his chest with a finger.
“Fuck, no.”
He glowered down at her, waiting.
It was hard to say more. They were always at odds with each other. She didn’t like to give him an inch. But she didn’t like him pissed off at her either. “You’re the only knight in shining armor around here that I see.”
He looked wary, like he thought she was blowing smoke up his ass.
“Mark’s just doing his job. You’re the one who offered me pack protection. If you weren’t always such a smug, cocky bastard, I might have shown a little more gratitude.”
The corners of his mouth twitched.
Her heart jumped around in her chest while she watched his gaze turn from scalding to smoldering—with a different kind of heat. “I don’t need your thanks,” he muttered and reached for her nape, yanking her in to claim her mouth, just as he’d done in the middle of the mall. She closed her eyes and melted into the kiss, which was no less violent or consuming than the last one.
One of his hands slid down her back and gripped her ass, squeezing and pulling her hips against him. He wedged one leg between her thighs, and her hips rocked down to rub her clit against it.
She moaned.
“That’s it, baby, keep up that sexy moaning.” He bit her ear, teeth grazed her jaw before he returned to fuck her mouth with his tongue.
She rolled her pelvis up and down on his thigh, the stimulation against her clit driving her mad.
He lowered and curled his forearm under her ass, lifting her easily to straddle his waist. She looped her arms around his neck, lips still twisting over his in a desperate dance.
She knew it was a bad idea. She didn’t want to get into a relationship with another bad boy like Cody. But since the moment he’d first grabbed her in her bedroom closet, she’d been fighting the attraction. Maybe if she just let things ride, the tension would ease between them. It didn’t mean she had to be in a relationship with him.
Cody lifted her higher and bit her breast. She shrieked at the pain and violence of it, wondering if he’d left a mark. “Shirt off, Melissa.”
Not a request. A command.
Could she handle this guy? He wasn’t all human. Maybe the wolf part would be too much.
“Now,” he gritted. “Or I’ll tear it off.”
She yanked the Walmart t-shirt off and threw it on the floor. Cody backed her against the wall and pinned her. He yanked down her bra so hard he tore it, causing the strap to dig into her shoulder.
“Ow,” she protested. “What the fuck, Cody?”
Cody froze, panting, his eyes glinting ice blue. After a moment, the color faded to slate. He eased his grip and she slid down the wall to her feet.
Regret washed over his features. He cupped her face and brushed her cheek with his thumb. “You’re going to get hurt with me.”
The dire prediction echoed the conclusion she’d already drawn, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear.
Her clit throbbed in rhythm with her pounding heart. The bra hung half off her, one strap still clinging to her shoulder. She hadn’t wanted hi
m to stop.
He stroked his hand up and down the side of her neck, following it to the slope of her shoulder. “Baby… I can’t—” He blinked. “I shouldn’t…” He shook his head. “Humans are too fragile for wolves. Believe me, there’s nothing I want to do more than part those sexy thighs and fuck the ever-loving attitude out of you, but—” He leaned close and inhaled against her neck. “Your scent drives me fucking crazy and I just might lose control and bite you and neither one of us wants that.”
She worked to swallow around the knot in her throat. “Right,” she whispered hoarsely, although she wasn’t quite sure what he was saying. Obviously that mating her would be a big mistake.
Okay, fine. She agreed.
She shoved at his chest and he stepped back. “It’s late. I’m going to bed,” she mumbled.
He didn’t answer, which was probably just as well. They really didn’t have much else to say to each other, did they?
Chapter Seven
Cody slept in wolf form. It seemed the safest idea—less temptation to go in the bedroom and finish what he’d started with the beautiful redhead sleeping there. He woke at dawn and nosed into the bedroom.
Melissa sat up, beautiful with her long, thick waves sleep-tousled, her cheeks flushed. His wolf almost whined at the sight of her. Her blue eyes widened at the sight of him, but she climbed out of bed and came toward him. She wore one of his t-shirts, and her long, bare, shapely legs would’ve made him groan if he was in human form.
He trotted toward the bathroom intent on shifting back in there, where she wouldn’t see the gargantuan cock stand he got every time he shifted around her, but she stopped him.
“Cody?” Her voice was throaty from sleep.
He stopped and turned.
To his surprise, she buried her fingers in his fur. “May I pet you? Is this okay? I just wanted to feel…”
It took all his willpower not to shift back and tell her touch the part of his anatomy that had been straining for her since the moment he first saw her.
She ran her hands over his body, stroking, petting.
It occurred to him that he hadn’t been petted like that in years. Perhaps ever. No, his mom had pet his fur when he was a pup. But she’d been dead since he was eight, and his stepmother and father had never been very affectionate. And while he’d had sex, he hadn’t had a girlfriend. Not someone who touched him just to feel. Not with any intent other than to stroke.
A shiver ran over his entire body. What was it? Pleasure? Not sexual pleasure, but something else.
She stroked his ears, buried her face in the fur of his neck.
He twisted and licked her shoulder.
She giggled, clinging more tightly.
He gave a shake and trotted away toward the bathroom, shifting just before he got there.
Melissa stopped short at the sight of his naked form, her mouth dropping open. When her eyes slid down to his jutting cock, he shrugged. “Happens when I shift.”
He shut the door and turned on the water, ignoring the raging hard-on. He had to get to two worksites to check on progress, then meet with his agent. And he didn’t like to leave Melissa alone for too long.
When he emerged from the shower, he found her in the living room, doing some kind of yoga routine on his floor.
He bit back a groan, his cock instantly hard again at the sight of her panty-clad ass sticking high in the air.
“Seriously, princess—are you trying to torture me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, a little too innocently. “I’m just practicing my downward dog.”
If she was his mate, he’d make her hold that position while he fucked her into oblivion to teach her a lesson for teasing like that. The momentary fantasy of all the sexual games they’d play if they were mated glued his feet to the floor, his eyes still fixed on her oh-so-appealing ass.
And then he lost his hold on the tenuous control he had. Before he knew what he was doing, his feet crossed to her, hands peeled those panties down to her ankles.
She shrieked and tried to twist away, but he looped a forearm under her waist to hold her in the position and smacked her ass with a flurry of spanks.
“Ow! No!” she screeched with each one, but he held her fast and punished her beautiful little ass until he’d painted it red.
Nectar glossed her entrance, the scent of her arousal sending him into orbit.
He lifted his prisoner into the air and carried her, kicking, to the sofa, where he sat down with her on his lap, her back against his front. “Put your hands on the floor.”
“What?”
He didn’t wait for her to obey, but maneuvered her himself, pushing her torso forward until her hands reached the floor and her legs straddled him, wheelbarrow style. “I’ll show you my favorite yoga pose.”
Her ass was presented to him, pussy spread and glistening.
“This isn’t yoga,” she protested, but he ignored her struggles, giving each cheek another perfunctory smack. She stilled.
He filled both hands with her ass, making small circles with his thumbs at the juncture of her inner thighs. “If you’re a good girl, I’ll get you off. Would you like that, baby?” He brushed her labia with his thumb and she made an indistinct mewl. “What’s that?”
She didn’t answer.
“Or did you need more spanking?” He slapped each cheek again smartly.
“No-o-o,” she moaned. “I’ll be good.”
He brought his thumb to her dewy entrance and slid it slowly up and down, coating her vulva with her natural lubricant. “You want me to make you feel good, baby?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “Cody…”
He really loved the sound of his name on her lips. “That’s my good girl.” He rubbed the pad of his thumb over her clit quickly, then slowed down for a few firm downward strokes.
“Ahh-ah,” she cried out.
He gave her ass a light slap. “Settle down, little girl. You don’t come until I say you come, got it?” He had a feeling she’d go off like a firecracker with just a few strokes, and he intended to take his time. If he wasn’t going to fuck the hot little human, he could at least savor the pleasure of bringing her to orgasm. He tossed a pillow down to his feet. “Make yourself comfortable.”
She snatched it up and propped it on his feet, then rested her cheek on the pillow, arms wrapped around his legs.
He peppered her ass with several more spanks, loving the way her butt bobbed and arched for them, the way her inner thighs quivered and her pussy wept for his touch. “What happens to girls who tease?” He sank one thumb inside her while the rest of his hand cupped her mons and massaged her clit.
“Ahh!”
He slapped her ass with his other hand, delivering a sharp smack. “What happens?”
“This?” Her voice quavered.
He bit back a chuckle and slapped again in the same exact place, while still pumping his thumb in and out of her. “What is this?”
“Punishment,” she gasped, humping his lap.
He removed his thumb. “What kind of punishment?” He didn’t know why he wanted to make her say it, only because it added to the humiliation, he supposed.
She moaned at the loss of his thumb, but he returned to focus on her clit, which had her squeezing the legs wrapped around his waist in a pulsing excitement.
He stopped and started spanking again, renewing the burn for her, slapping a dozen times until she shrieked with frustrated need and pain. “What kind of punishment?”
“S-spanking!”
He dragged his thumb through her juices and brought them up to her anus, circling the little pink rosebud.
She scrambled, as if she wanted to crawl right off his lap. He caught her hips and yanked her back. “Where do you think you’re going?” He pressed his thumb insistently at her rear entrance, waiting for the tight ring of muscles to relax.
“When you’re a bad girl, you get spanked, long and hard.” His thumb breached her
hole and he dropped some saliva on it to help lubricate, easing it in and out. He added his other thumb to her pussy and worked them alternately, pressing first one thumb in, then the other.
“Oh, my God,” she wailed. “Cody…”
“Do you like your punishment, baby?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “Please…”
“You want to come?”
“Yes, please. I’ll be good.”
A chuckle bubbled out of him, but he increased his speed and pushed both thumbs in at the same time, while the fingers of his lower hand pressed firmly against her clit.
She shrieked. “Cody! Oh Jesus, oh my God!”
“Come for me, baby.”
Her scream echoed through his house, muscles clamped down on his thumbs. The unstrained pleasure on her face made a picture he etched forever in his mind as the most beautiful thing he’d ever witnessed.
When she collapsed over his lap and legs, fully spent, he bent to pull her back up, then swung her up into his arms and carried her into the bathroom. He stood her on her feet, but kept an arm wrapped snugly around her waist in case her legs wobbled. Passion had flushed her slack cheeks, and her glassy eyes were heavy-lidded.
He turned on the water and waited for it to warm up. When he tugged his shirt off her body, he nearly wept with need. Her apple-sized breasts pointed up, peach nipples forever optimistic. With a surge of lust, he gripped both her wrists and slammed them over her head to lift the impudent nipples even more. Her breasts lifted for his mouth, which he brought first to one, then the other.
The wolf within him surged and his vision domed. This time, he sensed the shift in his mouth, teeth lengthening, mating serum dripping.
No.
He used every bit of control he still had to pull back and yanked the shower curtain open. “Get in.” His guttural voice sounded like someone else’s.
She stepped in, but gripped his shirt, pulling him toward the shower. “Cody… I’m sorry I got scared last night. You didn’t hurt me. Let’s try again.”
The wolf raged at the surface.
Take her. Claim her. Make her yours.
His sharpened vision made her seem even closer. He stumbled back. “We can’t,” he grated harshly and he left the bathroom, and then the house, before the wolf could change his mind.