He licked the wound on my neck and studied my face for what felt like forever. “You are far more than you appear to be.”
I gulped.
He kissed my lips chastely. “I have never in all my years met a woman who could fight against my hold to the extent you are. Or one who could enter my thoughts and memories. You shall make a worthy companion.”
“Do I get a vote?”
He chortled. “No, Gina. You do not.”
A series of howls and growls filled the area.
Reynaud perked as a sinister grin moved across his face. “I wondered if he’d come the second I found you. He does not disappoint.”
“W-who? Jay?” I asked, confused.
“Step away from the lass, asshole,” said a deep voice with a heavy Scottish accent.
Reynaud held me tighter to him. “Or you will what, McKay? You will huff and puff and…”
“I’ll nae tell you again, you sick son of a bitch,” the man said. “Release the lass, she’s nae part of this battle we’ve been dancing around for decades.”
Reynaud eyed me, and it was easy to see the wheels of his mind spinning. He looked behind me and grinned. “Wolf, you do not even fully grasp the battle or the players.”
I pushed at his chest but didn’t make a ton of headway.
Snarls rent the air from behind me.
“You are powerless here, and you know as much,” warned Reynaud. “Continue to posture and I will kill the woman here and now. Trust me, McKay, you do not want that.”
I felt my boss approaching. He wasn’t traveling by ordinary means. He was flying. I knew the second he arrived.
There were more snarls.
“Go, vampire, we do nae need more of you here,” snapped McKay.
“I know not who you are, but I’m no friend of Reynaud’s,” said Zachariah firmly, his French accent showing as well.
Reynaud couldn’t have looked happier if he tried. I suspected he wore that look while kicking puppies.
Seemed the type.
He held me in place.
“Brother, you align yourself with lowly shifters?” asked Reynaud, making me gasp.
Zachariah and Mr. Tall, Dark and Scary were brothers?
“I align myself with any who stand in opposition to you,” returned Zachariah. “And we are brothers only because we share a maker. That bond does not extend to the limits you have pushed it. Release her.”
“Aye, I’m with the dead guy,” said McKay.
Reynaud turned with me, letting me see everyone. The very same men I’d noticed in the parking lot of the club when Jay was leading me out were there. The man with the black hair and green eyes stood next to Zachariah.
“Lass, are you injured?” the man asked.
“No,” I said, unable to look away from him. “I’m pretty much just pissed.”
Zachariah snorted. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Because you know me well.” I stared up at Reynaud. “This whole bending me backwards bit is getting old.”
Reynaud dipped his head to my neck again and bit, this time making my body ignite with desire as he did. It wasn’t real, and I knew it wasn’t of my doing.
Zachariah and the others shouted and tried to rush us. Power I couldn’t see knocked them all backwards as Reynaud continued to feed from me.
Jay flashed in my mind, and I drew upon a resolve I wasn’t aware I possessed. I screamed in anger and broke the vampire’s hold on me, thrusting him away from me hard enough to send him into the very building he’d been leaning against.
He didn’t look pissed.
He looked like he wanted to fuck me even more now.
He licked blood from his lips.
Zachariah was with me in an instant, shoving me behind him.
McKay and the two men with him charged Reynaud. They were nearly to him when he launched into the air and hovered for a moment. He winked at me. “Sweet dreams, little slayer. See you again very soon.”
With that, he was gone.
The next thing I knew, I was going down.
6
There was something about the smell of sawdust and sweat that did it for me. It was manly, earthy, and made my body respond. It didn’t hurt that the man currently covered in sawdust had a body to die for and smelled delicious all on his own. What can I say? I’m a sucker for guys who are handy. It’s a major weakness of mine. Always had been. And Jay was about as sexy as they came. Finding out he was handy only added to his hotness factor.
Not that he needed any help in that category. He had sexy in spades.
I should know, I’d spent the last six months staring at him when he wasn’t looking.
I’d been spending time with him, helping him with his renovation project during our down hours for a while now—or rather watching him renovate while I stood around and admired his backside. I’d had to cancel on him three days in a row because of what had happened with Reynaud, and I still hadn’t told Jay the truth of it all. I’d also not seen McKay or the others since that night—just Zachariah.
At first, I assumed Zachariah would call Jay and notify him about what had happened right away, but he hadn’t. He was worried Jay would launch a full-scale attack against the den that would leave innocents hurt in the crossfire. A clash of the shifters and vampires kind of epic thing.
Zachariah had been tight-lipped about his history with Reynaud. Other than the fact they shared a maker, I knew nothing more. But Zachariah did look incredibly guilty that he’d sent me into the club alone. He’d not known Reynaud was even in the city, let alone affiliated with the club and den. I’d been forced to listen to his ranting and ravings, only understanding a tenth of them because he kept falling into French as he shouted. He wasn’t yelling at me. More at himself while I was stuck in the room with him. Then again, my grasp of the French language was nothing to write home about and he could have been ranting about a pizza for all I knew.
By the end of the ranting, Zachariah was walking back and forth in his office, lifting his hands in the air, having a one-man conversation. I caught a bit about my mate finding out and doing something crazy. I found that odd since slayers didn’t have mates.
A large piece of me hated that I’d kept the truth of the attack from Jay. He’d called me later that night, worried about me and my safety. Zachariah had texted him back from my phone for me, telling him I was fine and that period cramps had started, and I planned to stay home for a few days, eat ice cream, and binge-watch girlie shows.
Watching Zachariah as he typed all that into my phone had been a highlight of my week. You’d think for an immortal vampire, he’d be past the point of being wigged out by discussing a woman’s menstrual cycle. He wasn’t.
I hadn’t started my period, and I didn’t spend the time away from Jay eating ice cream and binge-watching anything. I spent it healing, tucked safely away at the main house for the slayers in the city. The one that Zachariah lived in and had his office at. The man made me stay in a bed for days so he could keep an eye on me for any side effects from what Reynaud had done to me.
That asshole had then had the nerve to put me on leave, telling me it was too dangerous for me to be patrolling with what had happened to me.
I’d informed Jay that I was forced to take some time off, but I’d been vague about it, knowing he’d dig deeper and blow his lid.
He was protective like that.
As I watched him work, the need to tell him everything continued to press at me. I tried to keep it tamped down.
Jay had been working on the old home, restoring it room by room, for about seven months now. I wasn’t sure how he actually lived there. He basically had a bed and some clothes there. Nothing else. Not that I could judge with as few items as I had in my apartment. It was a place to lay my head, nothing more.
When Jay had first asked me over to help, I really thought he’d meant to help. Unless he wanted moral support, I hadn’t done anything each time I’d been there. When I’d come today, I’d fooli
shly thought he’d finally let me assist him. So far, he’d been steadily moving me out of his way all morning. I didn’t mind. Each time he touched me, I had to hide a smile because of the tingles that raced through me. I had to remind myself more than once—okay, more than a hundred times—that it was just Jay.
Jay was a friend, and I didn’t do friends.
Why the hell did I come up with that rule?
Willpower wasn’t something I was overflowing with when it came to the man anymore. At one point I had been, but as of late, I was fighting a losing battle. Damn him and his manly sweat smell with a hint of sawdust over it for dramatic effect. And damn him for being handy, lifting heavy things, and hammering.
All of it turned me on.
The urge to shove him was great, like it was his fault I couldn’t control my hormones around him. It fit with my temper, but I resisted. Mostly because I wasn’t sure making any type of physical contact with the man was wise. I’d probably tackle him and rub myself all over him or something else stupid. With my sudden lack of willpower, there was a real possibility anything would happen.
Folding my legs, I sat on the edge of the countertop, doing my best to stay out of Jay’s way and keep my mouth shut about Reynaud.
Jay pushed his pencil behind his ear while he went to work measuring a board. He was quite the handyman. I stared down at him and laughed as I spotted the coating of sawdust in his black hair. He seemed to wear almost as much sawdust as the floor. The floor didn’t look anything as close to good with it on as he did though.
Calm down there, girlie bits. You friend-zoned Jay long ago. Stop trying to hump his leg.
I couldn’t tear my gaze from him. Stubble covered his square jawline and he stared up at me with chocolate-brown eyes. The entire package was something to behold indeed.
Sexy and able to fix things.
What more could a girl ask for?
“Gina, I’m so happy you agreed to help me with this project,” he said, his voice deep.
“Hey, I tried to help, but you told me to move out of your way.” Putting my fingers up for emphasis, I widened my eyes. “Three times.”
“The best spot you could come up with to be out of the way was the countertop in the kitchen I’m remodeling?”
I took a deep breath and glanced away, realizing he’d only asked me to hang with him out of pity, not because he really wanted me there. “I’ll go. Sorry. I really didn’t mean to be in the way.”
I made a move to get off the counter, but he was over to me in a flash, his large, muscular body pinning me in place. The feel of him so close to me left me breathless.
“I don’t want you to go,” he said. “I was joking, Gina. I haven’t seen you in three days, and you’ve been so quiet that I just wanted to get you talking. Even yelling at me, which you love to do. That’s all. I swear.”
Putting my palm to his chiseled chest, I glanced up at him, unable to look away from him as he stood there covered in sawdust, smelling yummy. “Close your eyes.”
“Why?” He arched a black brow.
“Just do it.”
He did, and I immediately began brushing the sawdust from his ear-length hair. I took my time, liking the feel of his hair more than I should. As he peeked out of one eye, he tipped his head.
“What are you doing?” he asked, the makings of a smile starting.
God, I did love it when the man smiled.
“Cleaning you. I wanna see those brown eyes without a layer of sawdust threatening to fall into them.” I wrinkled my nose playfully as he moved closer to me. “Seriously, though. I get you feel the need to spend time with me because my friends aren’t around right now, and I’ve effectively been benched as far as slayer duties, but you don’t have to do that. I’m fine on my own.”
He took a large breath, his body pressing harder against mine. He dipped his head more, his face nuzzling against my neck. He took a deep breath in and then growled lightly, grabbing my legs, uncrossing them, and then putting them to each side of his hips. Hooking an arm around my waist, he yanked me closer to him, leaving us groin to groin.
I gasped. “Jay?”
He growled again, his lips near my ear. “Don’t go,” he said, his voice even more profound than it usually was.
“J-Jay, what are you doing?” I asked, my voice barely there.
“Smelling you,” he said, as if that wasn’t the least bit weird.
I wasn’t a shifter. I didn’t go around sniffing people. Just then, I drew in his scent again and realized that, apparently, I did sniff people. Well, I at least sniffed Jay. A soft laugh came from me. “Don’t mock me later when I say this, but you smell really good.”
He nuzzled his face against my neck more. “So do you.”
For a moment, I fought the urge to kiss him.
Jay growled yet again, and I felt his cock hardening in his jeans. As his erection became evident, I got a pretty good idea how big the man was.
Jay could rip a woman in two.
“Gina.”
“Y-yes?” I asked with a shaky voice that I wasn’t exactly proud of since it made it obvious I was affected by him too.
He inhaled again. “Why did you tell me you’d started menstruating when you hadn’t? You just started to ovulate.”
I yelped. “What?”
“I can smell it on you. I can always smell when your body changes,” he said, his voice low.
Gasping, I jerked, only serving to push my groin to his. “Tell me you’re joking.”
“I’m not.” He ran a hand up my back and into my long dark red hair. Tugging lightly, he forced my head back, giving him better access to my neck. If I wouldn’t have known he was a wolf shifter, I’d have thought he was a vampire at the moment. Not that I’d have cared. He felt too good pushed against me.
“G-Gina,” he said, sounding labored as his entire body coiled. “Push me away.”
“Jay?”
His voice deepened. “Push me away. I’m struggling for control. I don’t want to hurt you. Hit me, kick me. Whatever you have to do to protect yourself from me.”
I slid my hands up his chest and wrapped my legs around his waist. We’d never had a moment like this before, and I wasn’t exactly sure how to handle it, but I did know one thing—Jay wouldn’t hurt me.
“Jayson, it’s okay.”
He tensed, his arms flexing. “N-not okay.”
“Look at me,” I said in an even tone as I began to sense his fear, his worry over harming me.
“Can’t,” he ground out, his voice even deeper.
“Jayson.”
Unhurriedly, he lifted his head from my neck and looked at me. His brown eyes were now a vibrant amber. I knew then his wolf was beating at him from within.
I leaned in and hugged him to me. I put my head on his chest. “Stop worrying. You would never ever hurt me. I know it as sure as I know the sun will rise and set.”
Slowly, the tension in him began to alleviate.
I eased back a touch and looked up to find him watching me with a curious expression on his handsome face. I smiled wide and then put my arms over his shoulders, pulling myself up and off the counter, my legs still wrapped around him.
He lifted me to him more. “Gina?”
Giggling, I leaned up and kissed him just below each eye. “Put the wolf away, Jay. Then you need to get back to sawing stuff and hammering. I have got to say, the sight of you doing that is a major turn-on. And I’m going to admit to liking the smell of sawdust. Warning, if you do keep having me around when you renovate, there is a high likelihood that I’m going to throw you down and have my way with you. Now, grab your tool and show me what you want me to do.”
The amber faded back to brown as he grinned. “Hmm, have a fetish for men in construction?”
“Not all men.” I gave him a quick squeeze and then slid out of his hold. When my feet were on the floor, I swatted his abs lightly. “Get to hammering.”
“Oh, I nearly was hammering,” he said, h
is voice suggestive. “If you want to help, you could play with my tool.”
There was the Jay I knew. I laughed. “Maybe later. For now, put me to work. But if you ever talk about my period or me ovulating, I might harm you, badly.”
7
He caught my hand. “Gina, I’m sorry about what just happened. I didn’t mean to lose control. It’s been getting harder and harder for me over the last six months.”
Concern cut through me. I grabbed his hands in mine. “What’s wrong? Why would you suddenly have issues controlling your shifter side?”
Averting his gaze, he stayed in place, holding my hands. “No reason.”
There was a slight tug in my gut. “Jayson Louis Gonzales, if you don’t tell me the truth, I’m going to take one of these two-by-fours and whap you upside the head.”
He licked his lips, grinning ever so slightly.
“This is funny? You know as well as I do that things in the supernatural community have been growing worse at a rapid rate. It’s like something is feeding the anger, the rage, the darkness everyone carries. If whatever is happening is starting to affect you, tell me. I’ll help you somehow. I don’t care what rock I have to turn over, I will find a way to make you be okay.”
“Gina, I’m fine. I promise,” he said, still grinning. “I don’t find control issues funny. I’ve seen too many of my kind suffer from them. I laughed because you scolded me like I was a child and used my full name. I wasn’t aware you knew it.”
“Jay, you’d come to me, right?” I asked, my lips starting to tremble. “I mean, if you were having problems, you’d trust me enough to come to me, wouldn’t you?”
He looked away quickly, and I took it as a sign he didn’t trust me to the level I did him.
I released his hands and stepped back. “I get it. I shouldn’t have pushed, and I know shifters don’t trust any slayer fully. It’s amazing that you and I can tolerate being around each other. Listen, thanks for letting me hang here. I’m tired. I’m going to head home.”
“Stop trying to leave me,” he said in a gruff voice.
Leave him?
In one step, he was to me. “Gina, I’m trying to figure out how to tell you that my control issues are with you. Only you. That when I’m near you, I have to be mindful of that side of myself. Christ, your smell drives me nuts all the time. This time of the month, it’s as hard for me to control myself as it was when I was going through puberty and a full moon would occur. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Bad Moon Rising: A Loup Garou World Novel (Tempting Fate Book 2) Page 5