by Eve Langlais
“Ooh, it’s for me!” She emerged from the bedroom wearing his oversized shirt, which hit her mid-thigh, and nothing else, her hair rumpled, lips pink, and looking adorable.
The delivery dude noticed.
Derek growled.
The package got shoved at him, and the fellow practically ran off.
“My stuff! Lana must have super-express posted it.” Claire grabbed the package, leaving Derek to slam the door shut.
He followed her into the living room in the hopes they’d continue what they’d started, only to see Claire tearing open the cardboard box and yanking out clothes. And a wad of cash. And more clothes. And chocolate bars.
“Does your roommate not realize we have stores here?”
“But none of them have Baby Ruth. Damn those Canadian tariffs for blocking my favorite treat.” She tore one open and chewed off a chunk, closing her eyes and giving a happy hum.
“Shouldn’t you have dessert after breakfast?”
She eyed him and smiled. “Is this a hint about eating a sausage first?”
The erection returned.
So, of course, her phone rang.
Then his phone rang. The fates conspired against him this morning. Since she was busy talking to her friend again, he answered.
It was a guy from work wanting him to take his shift. He was about to refuse, only Claire shook her head. Take it, she mouthed.
Only when he hung up did he say, “Why do you want me going in to work?”
“Because you’re going to sneak me in with you. I want a peek around.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not a good idea.”
“But I thought you said Chymera wasn’t doing anything hinky.”
“They’re not.”
“Then who cares if I poke around?”
“I do. If someone sees you, then you could get in trouble and I will probably get fired.”
“Only if I’m caught. It’s Sunday. I doubt there will be that many people.”
Good point, but still not a good idea. Neither was leaving her unprotected in his house. “You can come, but you’re sticking close to me.”
“If you insist.” She rose from the floor and moved close to him. “Is this close enough?”
He grabbed her around the waist and hauled her closer. “This is better.”
Her lips quirked. “I didn’t take you for the possessive type.”
“I’m not usually. But there’s something about you…” He brushed her cheek with his knuckle.
She leaned into the caress. “I feel the same way. Does this mean you want us to go steady?”
His turn to smile. “It’s what would have happened in high school had you stuck around.”
“Were you really going to ask me to be your girlfriend?”
“Yeah.” He almost blushed at the fact they were talking about it, as if they were teenagers still.
“I would have said yes.” She leaned up on tiptoe and brushed her mouth over his. “I still would.” Then she twirled away from him until she was behind and slapped his ass. “Get those cheeks moving, Spot. You have to get to work.”
“Spot?”
“I always wanted a dog, but my dad wouldn’t let me have a pet. Not even a cat.”
“Still doesn’t explain Spot.”
“Would you prefer Rufus? Duke?”
“How about none of the above?”
“Not fair. You gave me a nickname.” The jutting lower lip was more than he could resist.
“Fine,” he sighed. “If you must. But can you at least make it something cool?”
“Mad Max.”
“I’m not rabid.”
“Scooby?”
“I don’t solve mysteries.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “You’re being difficult. You didn’t see me arguing about the nickname you gave me.”
“Because it’s cute.”
“So you want a cute name?” Her nose wrinkled.
“Can we go for something masculine? Strong?”
“Like Hercules or Zeus?”
Again, he couldn’t help but shake his head. “A Greek god?”
Her lips twitched. “You’re right, I’ve seen the statues. You’re definitely better endowed, Big.”
He almost blushed, even as his chest swelled. A man did like his attributes to be noticed.
His phone buzzed again, and a glance at the screen tightened his jaw.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t tell me nothing. You look like someone kicked you in the schnitzels.”
“Just something I’ve got to deal with.”
Before he could tuck away his phone, she’d darted in and snatched it. Read the message. Turned a glare on him.
“What’s this?” she said, pointing to the text notification box on his screen.
“A message.”
“From my dad,” she squeaked. “You told him I was here.”
“Well, yeah.”
“But I didn’t say you could.”
“You also didn’t say I couldn’t,” he retorted.
“It was implied.”
“Sorry. He’s been worried sick about you. I thought I was doing the right thing telling him.”
“The right thing?” She held up his phone. “This says, ‘D, maybe you should just tie her up and bring her home. I’ll deal with the fallout.’”
“He said it. Not me.”
“And are you going to obey?” she sassed. “You going to take me back to your alpha like a good pack wolf?”
Why him? Why now? What happened to the awesome morning that had begun so well and devolved so rapidly?
“As a matter of fact, no, I wasn’t. I’m not into kidnapping women, even stubborn ones who should have left town.”
“You want me to leave. Then fine. I’ll leave.” She tossed him the phone. “I’m not going back.”
He barred the door. “Don’t go.”
“You didn’t exactly leave me a choice. You know why I left. Why I can’t return.”
“I know why you ran off, but I don’t agree with it, just like I don’t agree with the fact you can’t go back. Your parents miss you.”
Judging by the sudden tremble in her lips, she missed them, too, but she couldn’t admit it. “I can’t, Big. Please…” Tears shimmered, making him feel like the biggest asshole ever.
He sighed. “I won’t force you. I might not like it, but I will respect your choice.”
“Promise you won’t tell my dad anything more about me.”
He pressed his lips tight.
She placed her hand on his chest. “Please, Big, promise me.”
How could he resist? “I promise. Jeezus.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I gotta shower if I’m gonna make it to work on time.”
He left her before he made any more impossible promises. How the hell would he handle this? Could he really betray his alpha? But at the same time, how could he refuse her?
He put the shower on hot and steaming. The kind of heat that should melt away his troubles. He braced his palms on the wall, head hanging down, letting it stream over him.
The rustle of the curtain was his only warning before she touched him. He sucked in a breath.
Looked down and saw her kneeling in front of him.
“What are you doing?” His voice emerged gruff.
“Isn’t it your turn?” she said, her gaze meeting his, her hair slicked back by the shower.
A man had only so much willpower. He didn’t have any to push her away or say no. Not when her hand wrapped around his cock and held him tight. He managed only a strangled groan as her lips covered the head of his dick and sucked.
With his hands braced, his hips rocked in time to the sweet suction of her mouth. He pulsed within her firm grip. She needed both hands to cover him, and her mouth could take only about two inches, but he didn’t care. She was touching him. Pleasuring him. Humming her en
joyment as she sucked him.
And when he growled, “I’m going to come,” she took it all, every last drop before releasing him with a wet pop.
Before he could recover and return the favor, she’d slipped away, stolen his only clean towel, and had breakfast cooking by the time he managed to dry off—with a face cloth—and dress.
“Thank you,” he said. Not just for the eggs and bacon she placed in front of him with the most beautifully golden-brown hash.
She smiled. “You’re welcome. Now hurry up. We don’t want to be late for work.”
We. Shit. She was coming with him.
The good news? He’d at least have her nearby to watch over.
The bad? He’d probably end up fired.
But watching her across the table, shoveling food and happily chatting about her friend Lana, who apparently had sent her a text of an ultrasound showing her baby almost full term, he didn’t care.
He’d do anything to have her across the table from him every morning.
Chapter 10
Since Derek wasn’t allowed to bring anyone to work with him, I got to hide in the back of his truck. Under a tarp. Which smelled of oil. Ew.
I’d much rather be smelling Derek. The man oozed yumminess, and it had nothing to do with sugar and chocolate but everything to do with desire.
He’d made me come. Hard. On his fingers. He’d left a good-sized hickey on my neck, which I am not ashamed to admit I wore as a badge of honor. I could almost taste his frustration at the interruptions that morning. It was part of the reason why I joined him in the shower.
The man deserved something because I could see how much giving me his word cost. Derek was a loyal pack member, but he was also a man of his word. If he promised to not spill anything more to my dad about me, then I knew I could trust him. Which said a lot about him given my request was unfair. A wolf had a duty to his alpha, but I couldn’t deal with my family right now. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Seeing the message hurt. Not because Derek had spilled the beans and told my dad he’d seen me but because the text clearly indicated my dad wanted me home.
Why? I was still the same bunny misfit who’d left. Surely everyone was better off with me gone?
Dwelling on it made me unhappy, and I didn’t do misery. So I concentrated on something much nicer. Like Derek.
Problem was thinking of him soaked the crotch of my clean panties. I’d wanted nothing more than to jump his big bone that morning, but I couldn’t let the possibility of epic sex get in the way of my mission. Lana was getting antsy. While I couldn’t hide the motel blowing up, I could explain it as being an accident. Someone being careless with a cigarette. I didn’t dare mention the kidnapping. She’d have had me yanked home so quick my head would spin.
I wasn’t ready to go home. Not when I was having so much fun.
Yes, fun, and the blame belonged to Derek. I experienced a certain giddy pleasure in hearing Derek say he’d once upon a time planned to ask me to be his girlfriend.
Did anyone hear my inner squeal of delight?
Even more astonishing, he seemed intent on making the past the present. In other words, I was pretty sure he was hinting that we date.
Or was that just nostalgia talking?
For all I knew, nostalgia was to blame for my feelings for him. From the moment I’d set eyes on him, I was sixteen all over again with my heart racing and my girl parts tingling.
Could we make a go of it? Sure, we got along now—and the make-out sessions were epic—but it had been not even two days since we met. Who was to say we’d even like each other after a week or a month? The novelty would eventually wear off. I’d try and make him eat more salads and slap his hand if it touched my chocolate stash during shark week.
He’d want to go home at Christmas and see his family, and I…I was a big fat chicken who had waited too long to have any chance to make amends.
Perhaps, had I done something within the first few years, I could have repaired the damage. But a decade?
Despite the message I’d seen, I remained convinced my family hated me by now. If they thought of me at all—because I wasn’t sure they did, text or not. Could be they’d not thought of me in years until Derek mentioned seeing me.
They’d soon forget again.
The truck eventually stopped bouncing around, which was good because I almost tossed my cookies. Literally. I opened the bag, and a giant lurch sent a few flying. I rescued them, being a proud supporter of the ten-second rule.
When the truck slowed and did the whole back and forth thing as it parked, I knew better than to move. We’d discussed this beforehand. Derek would check things out and make sure it was safe first. Then I’d sneak out of the bed of the truck and do my stealthy best to not get caught. If I did, the excuse was I’d come to surprise my boyfriend with lunch, which I had stashed in my fanny pack—along with some toffees because I was pretty sure he had a sweet tooth. He just didn’t know it yet.
He tapped the side of the truck, our signal. But I waited another sixty seconds—an eternity in bunny years—before I dared peek out from under the tarp.
No one yelled. I eased out farther and quickly hopped over the side, landing on the pavement in the shadow of a tree. He’d parked at the edge of the lot to give us more cover.
I took a moment to breathe in the air. Fading exhaust. A hint of garbage from the dumpster about twenty yards away. Foliage from the forest edging the lot. And cigarette smoke.
Which was odd because I didn’t see anyone.
What I didn’t smell? Nefarious plots. Kind of disappointing given my certainty evil had a specific stench.
I kept to the trees as I approached the main building of Chymera. While Derek remained convinced it was on the up and up, I had my doubts. If they were so clean and aboveboard, why did he try so hard to keep me away?
Maybe so he doesn’t get fired. I could almost hear Lana and her logical reasoning for everything.
But I could also play the game of what-if.
What if he didn’t want me here because he was hiding something?
What if he was part of the devious goings on?
What if he lied to me and had a girlfriend who worked here, and he was afraid we’d run into each other, and then he’d be caught and in so much trouble?
If that were true, then I seriously needed help when it came to gauging people.
In this case, I trusted my bunny sense. Derek wasn’t a bad person. Perhaps he truly missed all the clues pointing to this workplace being a super-secret installation involved in the kidnapping and experimenting of supers.
I’d have to bring him proof.
With that determination, I slunk around the building. I sniffed out every corner. I shed a silent tear at the half-eaten chocolate bar tossed to the ground and covered in an army of ants.
What kind of monsters worked here!
I peeked in windows. Even managed to slip inside because someone left a back door wedged open when they wandered out for a smoke. I ghosted through as many halls and rooms as I could. Many of them were locked. Those that weren’t were boring. Worst of all, I smelled only humans.
Could I be wrong? Perish the thought.
Exiting the building, I made my way back to the guardhouse, sneaky as could be. The building, which was about ten by ten—making it bigger than my first apartment—had only one door in the front. But the window in the back worked well enough for me, especially since I heard Derek talking to someone in an idling car.
I dumped myself into his office and crawled under his desk, wrinkling my nose as more of that cigarette smoke filled the room. How rude of the idling driver to puff while dealing with Derek.
A moment later, the engine noise receded and there was a creak as Derek sat in the chair. He drummed his fingers on his desk, not once looking under it.
Since I wasn’t the type to be ignored, I grabbed him by the crotch.
He yelled, “What the fuck!” and I poked my head out.
; “Hey, Big. Did I scare you?”
“Yeah you fucking scared me.”
“I thought wolves had a super sense of smell.”
“We do for new scents, but given you rubbed yourself all over me before I started my shift, I kind of figured it was a lingering effect.”
I kind of liked the idea of him wearing my aroma. It might warn others away from him. Mine. All mine. A fantasy I indulged in for a second.
“What are you doing under there?”
“Having fun?” I said on a high note.
“Seriously.”
“Being discreet like you asked.”
“Get out of there.”
“I thought I was supposed to stay hidden.”
“You’re good for now. The place is empty. That was the last person checking out. So unless someone comes up the road, we’re alone. Did you find anything?”
“No.” My lips turned down. “Not even a mutant spider.”
“Told you Chymera was on the up and up.”
“And I’m telling you there’s got to be something happening around here somewhere. Is there another building maybe?”
“Not that I’ve seen. Nor are there any trails in the woods before you ask.”
“But you said they own tons of land.”
“They do.”
“Then there could be a secret installation somewhere else.”
“Why are you so determined to find something?” he asked.
“It’s not for me, but my friend. Lana.” Since we had time to kill, and he guarded his crotch and said not while on the job, I told him the whole story. Every ugly bit about my best friend, Beth, who was dying of a childhood illness until they injected her with demon and angel blood, turning her into a hybrid. With a destiny.
Then he got Lana’s sad tale, being raised for the first years of her life in some kind of military bunker until her adopted mom helped her escape. He didn’t say a word as I told him about Lana’s discovery that her birth mom was a Siren named Bella and her dad, Neptune himself. Both missing, presumed either dead or captive.
By the end of my story, his expression was pensive—and sexy. “So you’re looking for Neptune?”
I nodded my head.
“What makes you think he’s here?”
I told him about the video and the coffee cup.