by Ruby Shae
“Sooo,” her friend asked, her hazel eyes twinkling. “What did he want?”
“He asked me out to dinner,” Mindy said.
“Finally,” Angela said. “He’s been acting weird for a while. I’m glad things are working out for you two.”
For weeks, Mindy had felt guilty about not telling her friend exactly what had happened on Halloween, but now she was grateful. Even though she knew it was stupid to forgive Joel, she wanted to know what it felt like to be held by him. If that meant accepting an invitation issued on a dare, then, for now, she was okay with that.
The thing was, this time had felt different—more intimate—and she wasn’t sure he’d been dared at all. If he had, she’d rather not know about it, and she hoped his friends acted normal when she saw them all tomorrow.
“It’s one date,” Mindy laughed. “I don’t know if I’d call that things working out.”
“They will,” Angela said. “You’ll see.”
Mindy rolled her eyes, and then both girls broke down in giggles. They walked back behind the counter, and Angela picked up a small gift bag.
“Hey, what’s this?” she asked, holding up the bag for Mindy to see.
“I don’t know,” Mindy said. “It wasn’t here before. What’s the tag say?”
Angela opened the folded tag attached to the gift, and read the message. A huge smile crossed her face, and Mindy smiled in return. She was sure the bag was a gift from Angela’s boyfriend, and she waited for her friend to reveal the contents.
“Oooo… You have a secret admirer,” Angela said.
“What?” Mindy asked. “What does it say?”
“To Mindy...With Love…Your Secret Santa.”
“What? Let me see.”
Angela handed her the gift, and she read the tag:
To Mindy,
With Love,
Your Secret Santa
Angela hadn’t been lying.
Even though she knew no one else had entered the building since Joel left, Mindy glanced around the club, and then she reached into the bag and pulled out a small, unwrapped box of peppermint hot chocolate.
My favorite!
“Peppermint hot chocolate?” Angela said from over her shoulder. “Nice. Any idea who it’s from?”
“Not a clue,” Mindy said. “Except Joel, no one has been in here in over an hour.”
“Maybe it was him,” Angela said.
“Maybe.”
Could it have been him?
He hadn’t been holding a bag, but she hadn’t watched him leave. He could have placed the bag behind the counter on his way out, but would he?
A few days ago, she would have said no, but now she wasn’t so sure.
Joel surprised her today, and she was keeping an open mind.
Chapter Four
Mindy wrapped the sparkling lime green scarf around her neck, looked in the mirror, and smiled.
The soft crocheted scarf, along with a matching beanie and mittens, were the fourth gift from her Secret Santa, and though she hadn’t been positive Joel was the one leaving the gifts, the coordinating set helped convince her.
Aside from Angela, and her other best friend, Christy, no one except Joel knew how much she loved the widely unpopular color, and her friends swore the gifts weren’t from them.
Their testaments could only mean one thing: Joel was her Secret Santa.
He’d been right, she had seen him the following day while the band practiced, and then next day after they played. Unlike the previous six weeks, Joel treated her the way he had before Halloween, and his friends acted the way they always had.
The second present appeared the day after the first, and the third appeared the day after that. Both presents had showed up after all members of the band had left the club, and both had been perfect.
Gift number two had been two snowman sugar cookies from her favorite bakery in the Pole, and the third gift had been a mini candy cane cheesecake. The dessert had been created by Quinn’s wife, Chloe, and it was loved by everyone. In fact, she’d yet to meet anyone who didn’t drool over the decadent confection, so that wasn’t what made the gift special.
The dessert’s unique size is what warmed her heart.
Mindy knew her love of miniature and bite-sized baked goods was ridiculous, but she didn’t care. Miniature cupcakes, brownie bites, and petite bread loaves were just more fun to eat, and they always won over their regular sized counterparts.
The snowman cookies were special because they were her favorite holiday snack, but she’d never seen Chloe make a mini candy cane cheesecake. The fact that he’d commissioned the tiny dessert especially for her, meant more than the actual gift.
Everything he’d given her proved he knew her better than she thought, and the realization gave her hope. She still wasn’t sure of his intentions, but she didn’t think they were cruel. He liked her, that much was clear, and for now, that was enough.
After another glance in the mirror, she checked her watch, and walked toward the door. She’d paired her best, form-fitting jeans with a silky black sweater set, and a pair of chunky, low-heeled, black ankle boots.
She shoved her new beanie and mittens into her purse, put on her jacket, and waited for Joel to arrive. A minute later, she still jumped when the doorbell rang, and she took a few deep breaths to try and stop her racing heart.
When it was clear her calming technique wasn’t going to work, she pulled open the door and stared at the gorgeous man on the other side.
He was dressed in a long-sleeved, crimson dress shirt that highlighted his silver hair, and he’d left the top button undone. She could see the collar of a crisp, white cotton t-shirt underneath, and she wanted to lean forward and run her tongue along the edge of the bright fabric.
He also wore jeans and black boots, but she didn’t dare look at how the denim fabric accented his thick, powerful thighs because she knew she couldn’t resist glancing at the package between his legs. Joel was big everywhere, and she desperately wanted to know what it felt like to be filled by him.
Her pussy clenched, as if begging for his touch, and she felt her cheeks warm.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Joel said. “You look beautiful.”
His compliment, combined with his calling her sweetheart again, added heat to her cheeks, but she didn’t try to hide her reaction.
“Thank you, Joel,” she said. “And thank you for the gifts, too.”
“The gifts?” he questioned. “What are you talking about?”
If he were another man, she might have believed his feigned ignorance, but she’d loved him for too long.
“Nice try,” she said. She stepped toward him, impulsively wrapped her arms around his waist, and rested her head on his shoulder. “Everything is perfect.”
And it was, until she realized the horror of what she’d done.
He didn’t close his arms around her, didn’t speak, didn’t move except for the steady rise and fall of his chest. She could hear his heart beating in a rapid rhythm, but he didn’t seem to enjoy her affectionate gesture.
Mortified, Mindy dropped her arms, and refused to look at him as she turned toward the door of her apartment. Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
She half hoped Joel would just walk away, but when he didn’t, she checked the lock on the door, pulled it closed, and faced him again.
The look on his face was a cross between anger and annoyance, and she faltered.
“Are you…do you still want to go?”
“No, not really.”
Before she had time to register his words, he slid one hand into her hair, took a step forward, and lowered his lips to hers.
His soft lips pressed down on hers firmly, and sent a spark of electricity straight to her core. Before she had time to kiss him back, his tongue swiped across the seam of her lips, and coaxed her mouth open with gentle licks and jabs.
Not that she needed much convincing. She wanted to taste him more than anything, and w
hen his tongue found hers, she eagerly met his stroke for stroke.
He tasted like chocolate, peppermint, and something magical that she couldn’t name, except that he felt like home. She knew a few kisses didn’t equate to love, but for the first time since her parents died, she felt important.
Remembering his weird reaction to her hug, she tentatively slid her arms around his waist, but there was no need for caution. Joel wrapped his other arm around her, and yanked her against his hard, powerful body.
And he was hard everywhere.
His thick, stiff cock pressed into her belly, and she wanted to jump into his arms and feel the rock-hard flesh glide over the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs.
She wouldn’t though.
Her size might not be an issue to him, but she was very aware of how big she was, and even though he was an Enforcer, she didn’t expect him to lift her up.
Ever.
Joel ripped his mouth away from hers, and left a trail of kisses down her neck. Mindy slid her hands up his back, grabbed onto his shoulders, and cried out when he licked the sensitive juncture between her neck and shoulder.
He leaned forward, grabbed her thighs, and lifted her against the wall as if she weighed nothing at all. Before she could think, let alone object, he ground his pelvis against her, ramming his hard dick against her soft cunt.
Liquid heat soaked her panties as she cried out again and locked her ankles around him. The fact that he was holding her didn’t matter. All that mattered was his hard dick against her soft flesh. He captured her mouth, and shoved his tongue inside at the same time he ground his hips against her again.
Mindy moaned into his mouth and silently cursed the clothing separating them.
Suddenly, Joel stopped moving, gently unlocked her ankles, and lowered her feet to the floor. He fisted her scarf with both hands, placed a chaste kiss on her lips, and rested his forehead against hers. A second later, three people, one of whom lived on her floor, turned down the hallway in their direction.
Once the trio moved past them, Joel closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. She could feel his ragged breath on her face, and she enjoyed the quiet moment of intimacy.
“Food is the last thing on my mind, sweetheart,” he whispered.
It took a minute for his words to make sense, but he was answering her question from earlier. No, he didn’t still want to go to dinner…and neither did she.
“Me too,” she said. “Do you want to come inside?”
***
Fuck yeah!
Joel wanted to come inside her, without protection, and sink his canines into the soft skin between her neck and shoulder, but he couldn’t…at least not yet. They might be mates, and therefore destined to be part of each other’s lives, but he wouldn’t take away her choice.
Until Mindy knew the truth about his past, he couldn’t go anywhere near her neck during sex, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t bring her pleasure. The sounds she’d made earlier, combined with the way her soft body had molded against his, had nearly brought him to his knees—literally—and he wanted more.
“I’d love to come inside, sweetheart.”
The blush that filled her cheeks was adorable, and he loved that they both knew he wasn’t only talking about coming inside the apartment. Mindy opened her bag, grabbed her keys, and quickly unlocked the door. He followed her inside, rebolted the door, and turned to find her blocking his path.
She worried her lower lip with her teeth, and he was afraid that she would bite through the skin any second if he didn’t stop her. He slid his thumb over the imprisoned flesh, and she reluctantly released her hold.
“Can I get you anything?” she asked. “Do you want something to drink, or…?”
“The only thing I want to drink is your sweet honey, sweetheart,” he said, closing the distance between them. “Unless you’ve changed your mind? Would you rather keep our dinner plans?”
It would suck if she had second thoughts, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. He would be happy to take her out to dinner, and put sex on the back burner until she was ready. He wanted her, but he wasn’t an asshole.
“No, I haven’t changed my mind,” she said, “but, it’s been a long time. I haven’t been with anyone since I’ve been here, and before that… Well, it’s just been a really long time. I might not be what you’re expecting.”
Thank god she hadn’t been with anyone at the Pole. He’d suspected she hadn’t, but hearing her say the words soothed him in a way he didn’t know he needed. The thought of her with another shifter—especially another Enforcer—made his bear want to seek vengeance. He knew it didn’t make any sense, he hadn’t claimed her, or voiced the true depth of his feelings, and yet he didn’t care. He wanted her all to himself.
“I haven’t been with anyone since you’ve been here either,” he said, “and I don’t expect anything, except to hear you screaming my name.”
“I’m not a screamer,” she said, looking away. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this.”
Damn! He should have known not to joke with her. If the noises she’d made in the hallway were any indication, she was very vocal, but she probably didn’t know it yet. He wanted to simultaneously beat the shit out of all her exes, and thank them all for being such crappy lovers.
He palmed her cheek, and gently turned her face so she could look at him again.
“I was kidding,” he said, carefully. “The only expectation I have is making you come, preferably multiple times, but I’m flexible on that last part. It will be good between us, sweetheart, I promise.”
“Okay,” she nodded.
“Okay, you want to go to the bedroom?” he asked. “Or, okay, you want to go to dinner?”
“Okay, if you still want to, I want to go to the bedroom.”
She didn’t have to tell him twice.
***
Joel bent down, wrapped his arms around her thighs, hoisted her over his shoulder, and made a beeline for the bedroom. Her apartment was spacious, but with only one bedroom and one bath, he didn’t need a tour guide to find the room he was looking for.
“Oh my god, Joel!” she laughed. “Why are you carrying me?”
Her laughter made him smile, but he didn’t answer until he reached the bed and lowered her feet to the floor.
“I didn’t want to risk you changing your mind.”
He smiled, placed a chaste kiss on her lips, and then he grabbed the lapels of her coat and slid the thick fabric down her arms. Her scarf was next, and he unwrapped the long, soft material, and raised an eyebrow in question. He could think of a lot of uses for that scarf.
“Don’t even think about it,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t want it ruined.”
He dropped the scarf on top of her jacket, pleased that she’d only rebuked the idea of using her scarf, and not the thought being tied up. He mentally catalogued the tidbit of information for another time, and continued undressing her.
He pushed the black cardigan off her shoulders, and then grabbed the hem of the matching sleeveless sweater underneath. He inched the fabric up, and the second the soft skin of her tummy met the cool air, she clamped her hands around his wrists.
He stilled, but she immediately let him go.
“Sorry, I’m...,” she shook her head. “I’m a little nervous.”
She released him, and raised her arms above her head.
He pushed the tank over her breasts to reveal a silver lacey demi bra, and his already thick dick hardened to the point of pain.
Her perfect ample globes were covered in lace, and edged with satin dotted with tiny gemstones. He could see her large, pebbled nipples poking through the fabric, and the fact that she’d worn silver made his heart swell. He wondered if she chose the color on purpose.
“I like this a lot,” he said, tracing his finger over one hard nipple.
“It reminds me of you,” she whispered.
Oh, hell!
He was on the verge of losing his tightly he
ld control, but he had to know.
“Did you wear this just for me, sweetheart?”
“Yes.”
She released the word on a sigh, but he heard it clearly.
Before she could object, his hands moved to the button on her jeans, and he unfastened her pants, kneeled before her, and tugged the fabric down to her knees.
Matching lace silver panties enchanted him, and he grabbed her ass, leaned forward, and placed a kiss on her covered her mound.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” he said, inhaling deep.
She smelled delicious, and the desperate need to taste her had him on his feet again.
He unbuttoned his shirt, pulled it off, and threw it in the pile he’d made with her clothes. Then he ripped the white t-shirt over his head.
Mindy gasped and placed her splayed hands on his chest, tracing the muscly lines with her fingers. He unfastened his pants, and his thick cock, still covered in the cotton from his boxers, jumped out as if looking for her sweet pussy. He pushed the denim down his legs, only to realize they both still had their boots on.
“Damn it!”
Mindy jumped at his outburst, but then she burst into a fit of giggles as she watched him hastily pull his jeans back up, sit on the edge of the bed, and wrestle with the laces of his boots.
“I swear to god, woman. Your boots better not have laces.”
She laughed harder, but still made an effort to inch her jeans back up her thighs. She was only mildly successful, and once his feet were free, he pulled off his jeans and boxers at the same time, picked her up, and tossed her on the bed.
Mindy continued to giggle as she bounced on the mattress, and she didn’t start to calm down until he grabbed one of her ankles. He unzipped one boot and tossed it on the floor, and then he moved to the other foot.
Her jeans came off next, and she stopped laughing completely. She watched intently as he crawled in between her legs, closed his fists around the pretty fabric covering her hips, and ripped the material off her body.
She gasped and smiled, letting him know she didn’t protest his animal-like behavior, and the smell of her arousal filled the room. Her approval meant the world to him, and the urge to forget everything and mark her nearly consumed him.