One Night With The Wolf: Book Fourteen - Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas

by E A Price

  It dawned on him that while they were together, she had also been sleeping with her psychiatrist – she fancied herself an expert on all matters mental now.

  “No, Roxanne.”

  She glowered at him. “You actually prefer that stupid little human to me?”

  “Actually, yeah,” he chuckled. In every way possible.

  “You’re not mating her are you?”

  “No, but you’re engaged to Edward.” Seemed like the time to remind her of that – she had apparently forgotten.

  Roxanne sniffed. “I’m planning on breaking it off – he wants me to be a step-mother to his children. As if I want that!”

  “Lucky Edward.”

  Roxanne rolled her eyes. “He’s twenty years older than me. He’s just a middle-aged man going through a mid-life crisis. Don’t spare him your sympathy. I didn’t ask him to leave his fat wife – he did that of his own accord. Soon, he’ll be looking for someone younger than me.” She smiled. “In just a few weeks, we could be together though?”

  He told himself not to ask, but he couldn’t help himself. “A few weeks?”

  “Yes, Edward is selling his family vacation house. He put it in my name for tax purposes or something, so I’ll have all the proceeds. It’s worth a few million, easy.” She virtually licked her lips at the idea of that much money.

  Lord, Roxanne seemed to be getting more vicious with age.

  “We could be very happy together.”

  “No, we couldn’t.” That was something he was certain about.

  Roxanne pushed her breasts out. “Don’t you want me?”

  “No!” he shouted. What would it take to get it through to her?

  “You’d rather sleep with her?”

  “Yes, a thousand times yes.”

  Roxanne frowned and, unexpectedly, launched herself at him, trying to kiss him. He gripped her shoulders, holding her at arms length before her lips could make contact.

  “Enough,” he roared.

  He gave her a small shove, pushing her away.

  Roxanne let out a yowl of frustration, and her form melted back into her beast. She curled her lip at him and bounded away.

  Good riddance purred his beast.

  Boy, how he wished he had never said yes two years ago when she asked him up for coffee.

  *

  Susie relaxed in the sauna. Ah, this is the life. Turning the fan off, and running the water really hot in her bathroom back home so the air got all steamy just did not compare to the real thing.

  She was also grateful that the pack didn’t seem too bothered about the sauna. She had it all to herself. She asked Jules to join her, but she pouted and said no way – her wolf would hate that.

  Susie wiped a strand of hair off her face.

  She didn’t expect the scavenger hunt to be fun, but dang it, it was. Jules loved organizing these sorts of things, and usually, her teammates were Candace and Lila, so being with Barlow was a very welcome change. Spending time with him was always welcome. He was funny and good-natured and never made her feel like she wasn’t good enough. When she actually thought about it, Allen always used to make her feel like he was ‘slumming it’ by being with her. Yeah, he dressed it up and told her he loved her, but Allen was always trying to change the way she dressed, the way she ate, the way she laughed and was always harassing her to quit her job. Barlow just seemed to like her no matter what.

  When they were setting off for the hunt, she managed to slip and fall her butt. She sprawled on the snow with ripped pants, flashing her pink heart-decorated underwear to him. Yeah, another banner day for her, but one that thankfully the rest of the pack missed. But she only cared about one man’s reaction.

  Barlow didn’t immediately flame with mortification and snarl at her to get her ass off the ground and cover her shame. No, Barlow threw back his head in laughter while hauling her to her feet and checking her for injury. Instead of huffing and puffing impatiently, he waited while she ran back to the room for new pants, and when she came back, he smirked and asked if she had changed her panties too.

  Instead of making her feel foolish, he made her see the funny side of it, made her see that something like that wasn’t worth hiding her head in shame. It was just one of those things that happened, and it was better to laugh than cry about it.

  She loved how laidback he was. Well, not loved, she thought hastily. She meant… she didn’t know what she meant.

  Susie leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to think of another subject other than Barlow. It wasn’t easy.

  Her eyes snapped open as she heard movement outside the door. She tightened her towel around her, expecting someone else to enter the sauna. No one did.

  She shuffled over to the door and tried to peer outside. She caught a flash of movement – someone in black scurrying away. A feeling of dread stabbed at her.

  Susie grabbed the door handle and gasped. It was locked.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Barlow halted. He had a strange feeling. He pawed at the ground and let out a small whine. This wasn’t the same feeling he had when he felt someone was watching him, or even hunting him.

  Something was wrong. Something was off, and he wasn’t sure what.

  Susie.

  Dread flooded through him, and he let out a howl before pelting back to the lodge. He didn’t know how he knew it, but something was wrong with her. She needed him.

  He shifted and ran through the lodge, ignoring the outraged yells at his nakedness. He found Susie still in the sauna. Towels were wedged under the door, blocking her exit.

  Barlow snarled and yanked the door off its hinges. Susie fell into his trembling arms.

  *

  “How the fuck could you let this happen?”

  Susie opened her eyes to find Barlow all but tearing the hotel manager a new one.

  “There we are,” cooed Jules, pressing a glass to Susie’s lips.

  “Ummm!”

  The water felt amazing as the cool liquid sloshed down her parched throat.

  “We are sorry, sir,” quavered the manager, “but you did not need to rip the door off. If you had merely removed the towels…”

  “She could have been killed!” bellowed Barlow.

  “I hardly think…”

  Barlow looked like he was about to explode.

  “What happened?” asked Susie. “I couldn’t get out, and I think I passed out.”

  “Some towels were wedged under the door,” explained Jules. “It was just an accident.”

  “Oh?” Susie remembered the person in black. “Just an accident, huh?”

  Jules gave her a knowing look. “Luckily, your knight in shining armor was here to save you.”

  “Barlow found me?”

  “He came running into the lodge stark naked – you’re a lucky girl by the way – and ran straight to the sauna. He pulled the door off its hinges and got you out.”

  “Oh.” She looked up at Barlow again, vaguely thinking it was a pity he had managed to find clothes. Though, she wasn’t sure she liked the sound of Jules getting to see him without his clothes on. She didn’t want the nearly married she-wolf getting any ideas!

  “Susie!”

  Ugh – she considered passing out again as Allen ran to her side. She shifted and swore under her breath as she realized she was still only wearing a very short towel.

  “Susie, my darling,” cooed Allen, grasping her hand.

  Jules pursed her lips but didn’t say anything.

  Susie tried to pull her hand away, but she felt as weak as a newborn kitten. Thankfully, her knight came to her aid.

  He dropped the manager in favor of harassing Allen

  “Out of my way,” Barlow snapped, tossing Allen aside.

  “How dare you?” cried Allen, bristling with indignation. “Susie is…”

  “Not yours,” finished Barlow.

  Susie blinked at him, almost expecting Barlow to say she was his. He didn’t, but she was too tired to try and bother to
understand her confused feelings about that.

  “You…”

  The two males squared off, chest to chest. Jeez, Barlow would kill him. She didn’t want that. Not because she cared about Allen, but she just didn’t have the energy to deal with the blood splatter at that moment.

  “Barlow,” she breathed.

  The big wolf was by her side in an instant.

  “Little darling,” he cooed at her.

  “I want to lie down, could you…”

  She was in his arms and being gently carried up the stairs before she could finish her sentence. He allowed Jules to come with them and she helped Susie into a pair of pajamas, but as soon as he could, he chased Jules out the room.

  Barlow lay down beside her and tucked an arm around her. She regretted that she wasn’t in the mood for anything more, but the cuddling certainly felt good. Though, she was miffed that this incident was severely cutting into the time she had left with Barlow. That alone upset her, but in spite of the manager’s assertion that it was an accident, she couldn’t help but feel someone was purposefully trying to hurt her. Fear crept down her spine, and she snuggled a little more into Barlow’s welcoming arms. In these arms, she didn’t feel like any harm would ever come to her.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Susie awoke a couple of hours later.

  Barlow quickly muted the TV. “Sorry, did I wake you?”

  “No, not at all,” she murmured.

  She smiled and grimaced. “My skin still feels hot and wrinkly. Do I look okay?”

  “Yep,” he answered immediately, but she didn’t believe him for a second. “But I’d avoid mirrors for the next few hours.”

  Susie huffed and then laughed. He helped her sit up in bed and un-muted the movie. He was watching Murder On the Orient Express. It had always been one of Gram-Gram’s favorites. Growing up, he had seen it about fifty times, so Susie’s constant questions of ‘who’s that guy?’ and ‘what did he say when I was asking you who the other guy was?’ didn’t bother him in the least and it meant he could easily answer.

  “Holy crap!” she exclaimed at the ending.

  “Didn’t see that coming, right?” he asked.

  “No, definitely not. Good movie, though.”

  “Surprised you’ve never seen it.”

  “Surprised you have,” she giggled.

  “Grandma’s favorite.”

  “Ah, my grandfather has only ever watched movies about cops, and my grandma is partially blind, so she doesn’t watch much TV. I guess you spent a lot of time with your grandmother growing up, given that you lost your mother.”

  Barlow stared at her. “Yeah,” he said slowly.

  An icy shard pierced his heart. Right. He had almost lost Susie only a matter of hours ago. Nearly failed to protect her as he had his mother. But Susie wasn’t his responsibility – it wasn’t his job to take care of her. Though, he had felt pretty damn responsible when he found her in the sauna, looking so small, so fragile. For a second he thought he already had lost her – and he never wanted that damn feeling again.

  She looked like she wanted to say something else on the subject.

  “You hungry?” he asked quickly, wanting to change the topic.

  “A little. What time is it?”

  “Six.”

  “Crap!”

  She swung her legs off the bed and immediately crumpled to the floor.

  “Susie!” he snarled, leaping around to help her up.

  “Ooh, still a little woozy.”

  Barlow grunted.

  “But I have to hurry – we have the rehearsal dinner tonight.”

  “I don’t think…”

  “I have to go – she’s my best friend, and she’s only getting married once.”

  “You don’t know that for sure,” he said sagely.

  Susie raised an eyebrow. “Well, if I don’t go, Jules will come find me, and I’m not about to say that to her. Seriously, how do I look?”

  “Gorgeous,” he answered immediately.

  Well, okay, she didn’t look her best – she would need to be naked to look her best – and her skin seemed to be glowing, and not in a particularly good way, but she was always gorgeous.

  “I don’t think I believe you, but thank you, I needed that.”

  She leaned up with an ‘ooh’ and kissed him.

  “Yeah, well, I still don’t think you should go,” he groused, and his wolf agreed. She needed to stay in their room and recuperate, preferably naked…

  “I’m fine, and not going anywhere near any saunas in the near future.”

  “Hmmm. Your friend, Candace came by while you were asleep. She said the manager thinks it was just a random employee who dropped the towels while cleaning up. Be an employee needing some dental work if I find them.”

  Susie’s expression flickered, and she looked away. His wolf was immediately on edge.

  “What…”

  “Will you help me shower?” she interrupted.

  Barlow’s suspicion was immediately doused, as something else entirely lit up inside him. “You mean, hold you and soap you up while water flows all over you?”

  “Yes, that’s what a shower is.”

  “Oh, little darling, I will certainly give you a shower.”

  Susie giggled as he hauled her into his arms and damn near ran into the bathroom.

  *

  “You look sexy,” murmured Barlow into her ear as Susie picked at her salted caramel cheesecake. His lips grazed her lobe most deliciously.

  It was nice to hear – she had caved to Jules’ demand and packed her cute green dress. She was glad she did, it was one of the few garments that hugged her curvy frame in a flattering way and made her short legs look longer. But, she couldn’t believe he didn’t have an ulterior motive to his compliment.

  She pouted slightly. “You just want my dessert.”

  Barlow had already eaten his, asked for a second helping and eaten that, and then managed to charm Jules’ grandmother into giving him hers.

  “That too,” he murmured.

  Susie shook her head and slid her cheesecake over to him.

  He took on an ‘over the moon’ expression – the look he usually had right before they had sex – and eagerly started devouring the dessert. Much as he would then devour her.

  She wasn’t overly hungry, and couldn’t wait to leave. She was smiling bravely for Jules’ sake, but the snickers and smirks from Helen and her friends, not to mention the sneers from Roxanne were getting to be a bit much.

  Susie’s skin was starting to calm down and return to its natural brown color, but she still looked like she was imitating a red light. She could probably glow in the dark at that moment.

  The taunts she could probably stand, but it was the uneasy feeling that someone had done this to her on purpose that bothered her. Would Helen or Roxanne really do this out of jealousy? Why would Helen bother? Sure, she was angry that her mate was trying to bring Susie into a three-way mating, but surely she knew Susie wasn’t interested in that. And as for Roxanne, what was there to be jealous about? Roxanne was engaged to someone else, and it wasn’t like Susie had any claim over Barlow long term. Even in the short term, he wasn’t truly hers. Even if he was attentive and caring, he wasn’t hers, and he didn’t want to be.

  Barlow put the cheesecake away within seconds, and she tried not to laugh as he started eyeing Jules’ portion as well. Jules was too busy excitedly chatting with everyone to eat hers, though Susie knew she would eventually. The menu was filled with Jules’ favorite foods, and Susie had known Jules to walk five miles in the snow just to get a slice of salted caramel cheesecake.

  “I’m going to the bathroom, and then I think I’d like to go.”

  “You okay?” he asked quickly, assessing her with those wonderfully concerned eyes.

  Susie nodded. “Just tired.”

  “Okay.”

  He watched the cheesecake longingly as Jules started attacking it with her fork.

  Susie
pressed her cheek against his shoulder. “There’s a bakery around here that’s open until late for the tourists. They make the most divine salted caramel layer cake. Why don’t we stop and pick some up before we go back to the hotel?”

  “Dear god yes, what are we waiting for? Get moving.”

  He helped Susie to her feet and patted her ass to get her moving – right in front of everyone. Like her face needed to get any redder! Not that she really minded, it was nice to be fussed over by a man. No, it was nice to be fussed over by Barlow.

  She caught Allen’s disgusted frown and hurried to the bathroom. Allen had rarely ever wanted to hold her hand in public, never mind anything else. He was not affectionate in front of other people. In fact, he was not affectionate in private, either.

  She went into the bathroom and moved to wash her hands.

  “Have you heard the latest about the ex-girlfriend?” asked one of the voices from the stalls.

  Susie froze as she recognized it as one of Jules’ pack. It was Adriana – one of Helen’s young friends.

  “What is she up to now?” The reply came from a different stall – Connie, another of Helen’s friends.

  “She can’t get over the fact that Allen chose Helen over her, and now she’s pressuring him to accept her as his second mate.”

  Susie gritted her teeth as she realized they were talking about her.

  “Ugh, she really is pathetic. I don’t think she even knows that Allen was sleeping with her so-called friend Lila for months before he took up with Helen.”

  “He was?”

  “Yeah, he and Lila had been hooking up every full moon for about a year, but apparently Jules found out and put a stop to it. That’s when he found Helen.”

  Susie slapped a hand over her mouth. She wanted to vomit. She wanted to vomit up the beef consomme, the roast duck, sautéed vegetables and the small portion of cheesecake she had eaten all over the floor.

  Noiselessly, Susie ran out of the bathroom. Air. She needed air.

  She ran outside the restaurant, and yes, she did vomit, right there in the street. It was gross and awful, and tourists around her gasped and made sounds of disgust, but she couldn’t keep it in.

  No, it couldn’t be true. Allen made it sound like he had only cheated on her a couple of times with Helen. He couldn’t have done anything with Lila, could he? How could Lila do that to her? Why wouldn’t Jules tell her?!