by E A Price
Clay led Maris out of Branch’s office by her elbow. He wasn’t sure what had his inner beast most het up. The fact that Maris had been in his nephew’s office half-dressed, or the fact that he got to see her half dressed – making all his imaginings of her in her underwear pale in comparison to the real thing.
She was dressed again now, and Branch had yelled at her for five minutes – not surprising given that Mira had walked in and found Maris in her underwear too.
“It’s not what you think,” Maris breathed as he led her into his office.
“It’s not?” he asked as he closed the door behind them.
She walked into the center of the room and gave him a guileless look. “No, not at all.” She gestured to the stain on her dress. “Umm, someone spilled coffee on me and I was just trying to wash out my dress. No point now though, it’s ruined.”
A sad expression crossed her lovely features. He considered suggesting she take off her dress and try again in his private bathroom, but no, the excitement might just give him a heart attack.
Part of him just wanted to get her out of his office, away from him, away from temptation. But the part that was currently in charge was having none of that. No, that part of him was immensely jealous of his young nephew.
“You weren’t trying to get Branch’s attention?” he demanded roughly.
*
Maris gave him a dismayed look. “No, I thought that you of all people would know I’m not interested in him.”
Clay grunted.
“Are you pleased about that?” she asked quietly.
He looked at her uncertainly as she started to move towards him.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said gruffly.
“Why not?”
Clay shook his head and took on that stubborn look she knew all too well. This was a nut she had been trying to crack for years.
She came to stand before him. “Surely you realize I only want one reindeer’s attention.”
His eyes flashed to the darkness of his beast.
“Maris,” he growled.
“I’m not nineteen anymore, Clay. I’m all grown up.”
“Maris,” he repeated warningly.
But it was too late for warnings. Too late for him to be stubborn and noble and to try and run away from her because finally, she was going to get that elusive second kiss. The one she had been waiting for all these years.
“Maris,” he breathed, in almost a plea.
But nothing could stop her now. She pressed her lips to his, moaning in remembrance of their first kiss. Oh, it had been too long. His delicious taste made her want to cry with happiness. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. All these years she dreamed of this moment, and none of her imaginings came close to the real thing.
Clay groaned against her lips and grasped her hips with his strong hands. He clutched her body to his as he deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue into her mouth, taking her in a forceful, passionate embrace.
Her body alighted in delightful fire, and oh, she never wanted this to end. Before Clay, she had kissed a few men but never felt such a spark. After Clay, she had tried to date, tried to kiss others, but it had been hard. She had to force herself because she desperately didn’t want to be with anyone but Clay. He had taken all her affection, all of her desire for himself and she couldn’t get it back. She wanted to be with Clay, needed to be with him, and maybe finally, he was starting to feel the same way.
But it was not to be, not yet at least.
There was a rap on his door, and the spell was broken. He disengaged from her and stepped away almost drunkenly, staring at her as if he didn’t know what came over him.
He shook his head and moved to his door to see who it was.
Damnit. He wasn’t going to get away so easily. She had tried being patient, tried to be adult about it, but she was going to get him, one way or another.
Eleven
Maris moved through the outrageous sweater party. Martha threw one every year. She hated the term ugly, so it was always an outrageous sweater party. Maris’ was pretty toned down – it just said ‘I’m on the naughty list.’ No doubt people would believe that.
Alden had spent ten minutes following her around until she managed to lose him in the game room. She wasn’t proud, but she ducked under the pool table and scurried away on her hands and knees. That boy would not take no for an answer. Perhaps in the same way she didn’t want to take a no from Clay… She ignored the unflattering comparison – mostly because it was true and it annoyed her – and decided to focus on more pressing matters.
Clay had gone back to avoiding her since their kiss. Well, their second kiss. Jeez, if their relationship were going to move at this tortoise speed they wouldn’t manage a first date until she was forty, and darn it, she wasn’t prepared to wait any longer.
She found herself in the kitchen along with Branch’s intended mate, Mira. She hadn’t planned on it, hadn’t engineered on getting her alone, but maybe this would work to her advantage. She managed to get a kiss after being found in Branch’s bathroom wearing only her underwear, and while she wasn’t about to strip off in the kitchen, perhaps she could annoy a reaction out of Clay. Not her first choice, but really, she had been patient enough, and she knew this would get back to Clay.
“Umm, how much?” asked Maris uncertainly.
Mira looked up and gave her a vague smile. “Pardon?”
Maris cleared her throat and tried not to cringe too much at what she was saying. She sounded like a low rent villain in a soap opera – all she was missing was a pair of shoulder pads, and her mom probably had a pair she could borrow.
“How much to make you go away?”
Mira looked confused. “Ah…”
Maris tried not to roll her eyes and allowed her years of soap opera watching experience to take over. “I know this isn’t a real mating. He has to be paying you to do this. There’s no way he has been dating you – I’d know.”
Mira snorted. “Oh, have you been stalking his every move?”
“Yes.” Not really, but gossip in the herd was rife, and even someone with so little regard got the scuttlebutt on what the alpha was up to – she wasn’t the only female who had wanted to mate him. Not that she really did want that. She was however surprised at how quickly Mira had materialized – she didn’t know whether it was a real mating or whether Mira was someone Branch hired, but Maris didn’t really mind either way. As long as he was off the market!
“Oh, really?”
“And I know that the two of you just met less than a week ago.” That was something she was half sure about – but a good soap villainess never let the truth stand in her way. “So I’m asking you how much? I have money.”
Mira rolled her eyes. “Look…”
“I’ve been waiting to be the alpha female for over eight years now. I was patient while Branch grieved for his first mate, but I will not have this stolen out from under me.”
Maris stamped her foot and had to bite her lip to stop herself from bursting into laughter. She was actually quite good at this. Didn’t hurt that she was always the villain in school plays – the stepmother in Cinderella, the witch in Hansel and Gretel… Yeah, she must give off an evil vibe – she didn’t feel particularly evil…
Mira threw up her hands. “I don’t know what to tell you. Do you not think that if Branch wanted to mate you, he would? I mean, are you even in love with Branch? Is that it?”
Maris frowned. “Well no, I don’t love him. But my mother always told me I needed to reach for the stars. I needed to make something of myself and become the female alpha.” That was all true at least. Her mother had always felt bad that she couldn’t provide more for her, not that Maris ever complained.
“Can’t you make something of yourself without mating the alpha? Ariel told me that you’re a pretty successful model.”
“I do enjoy modeling,” said Maris. Which she did. She may not have enjoyed it so much when she was a kid, but she made good money, didn’t
have to work nine to five every day, and it wasn’t hard to do.
“But wouldn’t you have to give that up if you became the alpha’s mate?”
“I…” She inhaled sharply as she heard someone coming. It was the heavy tread of a large male, and she suspected it was Clay. Showtime! “I’ve always wanted to mate high up in the herd, and you won’t talk me out of it.”
Mira gave her a look of sympathy, one that was usually reserved for people yelling on the street that the ‘end is nigh.’ “Well, Branch isn’t going to mate you – ever. So you might as well give up now.”
Maris almost smiled as she thought she heard Branch on his way, and in a fit of – perhaps – insanity, she grabbed the punch bowl and hurled the contents towards him. Except, it turned out to be Mal – the head enforcer for the herd.
His eyes narrowed, and he growled at Maris who let out a sheepish eep.
“What’s going on in here?” rumbled Clay following behind Mal.
Yep, she heard him coming all right; sadly he was just preceded by damn Mal who could walk more quietly than a freaking cat. He was a six-foot-six reindeer for heaven’s sake! He should make more sound than that!
Ariel and Branch soon followed, and Maris gave them all smiles. Hey, she was used to embarrassment, it didn’t really bother her.
Clay stared at her blankly. What was he feeling? Anger? Disgust? She couldn’t tell.
“C’mon,” chuckled Ariel taking Mal’s hand, “I’m sure you can borrow some of my dad’s old clothes.”
“I’ll take Maris home,” declared Clay.
“You will?” breathed Maris in surprise.
Before Branch could object, Clay was already leading her to the car. Well, she wanted a reaction… she just wasn’t sure what she was getting yet.
Twelve
Clay waited until she was buckled in before tearing out of the driveway. Maris let out a chirrup of surprise at the speed, but she settled down pretty quickly.
He wanted to get her away from the party, quickly, before she either upset Branch some more or actually persuaded him she would make a good mate. Logically he knew that wouldn’t happen, but still, he couldn’t help himself. Of course, she would mate someone… someday… His inner reindeer chuffed. He didn’t want to think about that day.
“I thought you weren’t interested in Branch,” he growled.
“Oh, you’re speaking to me now? You’ve been ignoring me since we kissed in your office.”
Clay winced. That part was true. “Maris…”
“I’m not interested in Branch,” she muttered.
“So that display was for me?”
“Well…”
“Have you been doing this all these years just to get my attention?” The thought both thrilled and horrified him.
Thankfully, it wasn’t true. Maris burst into laughter. “No, Clay, just… no. Maybe I was acting a little childish tonight because I was annoyed with you, but all the times I’ve thrown myself at Branch have been for another reason.”
Clay shrugged, a little relieved. “So why then?”
Maris sighed. “It’s for my mother.”
Clay frowned. “You really choose to do that to yourself for her?”
“You don’t understand.”
“Tell me.”
“No, you…”
Lights flashed behind them, and a siren wailed.
“It’s the cops,” she said in amusement. “You pulling over or are we making a play for Mexico?”
Clay muttered a few dark words and pulled over. He had been driving just a teensy weensy bit over the speed limit - by about twenty miles over the speed limit. Thankfully the officer knew him, and apart from an interested leer at Maris, he let Clay go with just a warning.
“Shame, I rather like Mexico,” teased Maris as the cop car disappeared into the night.
Clay grunted unhappily. He was not the sort to get pulled over by the cops. He was responsible – his whole life he had been responsible and always done the right thing. This was Maris. Increasingly, he found himself losing control around her. Found himself unable to concentrate, unable to think of anything but her, and he didn’t like it one bit.
“I never pegged you for such a daredevil driver.”
Clay smiled slightly. “I’m not usually. I once got pulled over for driving too slowly.”
Maris gave him a funny smile. “Wait, you can actually get pulled over for that?”
“Yes. I’m usually so careful about everything. Usually, I’m always in control.”
He eyed her and Maris scoffed. “Are you saying I make you lose control?”
“It’s not your fault.”
She snorted delicately – because Maris was nothing if not ladylike. Though he was sure, a number of the herd cows would disagree with that.
“Kind of sounds like you think it is my fault.”
“Why would your mother want you to mate Branch? Why would she force you to do that?”
Maris shook her head sadly.
“Tell me,” he entreated softly.
She sighed in resignation. “I never met my dad, and my mom never wanted to talk about him. But when I was eighteen, I managed to track down my grandmother to find out the truth…” She winced, and Clay placed his hand over hers.
“My mom wasn’t ever part of a herd. Or at least, she was until she was eight and my grandfather got caught stealing the female alpha’s jewelry. After that, they were on their own. My grandfather took off, and my mom pretty much had to raise herself – which if you’d met my grandmother, you’d know that wasn’t an exaggeration. My mom met this guy when she was eighteen…”
Clay held back his groan – he could vaguely sense the direction in which this was going.
“He was this older, rich moose shifter, and she fell head over heels, and she thought he was going to mate her. Right up until she realized she was pregnant with me and he tried to force her to get rid of me.”
Clay grunted, and she groaned.
“Apparently he was next in line to be alpha, and had an arranged meeting to this herd princess from Vermont, and he definitely didn’t want my penniless mother ruining for him. But my mom didn’t want to get rid of me, so he paid my grandmother to try and force her.”
“Your grandmother told you all this?”
“Yep,” she snorted. “My grandmother actually admitted to trying to drug her and take her to the clinic, but my mom woke up, took off and that was that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“My whole life my mom has always been telling me I’m a princess, always trying to make things better for me. She always felt bad that we didn’t have much money and had to live in crappy apartments. I mean, she got quite a lot of work as a model, but she was always afraid that my father would try to take me away, so we moved around a lot and she was always careful about not showing her face.” Maris laughed. “She probably has the most recognizable hands and neck in the country!” She smiled. “Things have been more relaxed since she mated George though. I don’t think she’s as worried anymore. Maybe because I’m older, maybe because she feels more secure.”
“Does she know you know all this?”
“No!” Maris’ eyes flashed. “And I don’t want her to know, okay? I don’t want to upset her. I know a lot of people don’t agree, but to me she’s amazing. I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for her – my dad and grandmother both thought it would be better if I never existed. She left home at eighteen and pregnant, and she struggled for so many years to keep me, to take care of me, while always afraid someone would come after me and hurt me.
“I know a lot of people think so little of her because of how she dresses and how she behaves, but she’s amazing to me, and yeah, I want to keep her happy. So if that means pretending to chase after Branch, then yeah, I can do that – it’s a small price to pay. The whole herd thinks I’m a hussy anyway so what does it matter if I embarrass myself in front of them. I’ve no idea why they think that, I’ve literally only ever
slept with one man.” Maris sniffed. “What does it matter what they think anyway?”
Clay gaped. “You’ve only ever been with one man?”
Maris gave him a deadpan look. “That’s what you’re focusing on?”
He could feel his cheeks heat. “Sorry, I, ah, sorry.”
She sighed. “So no, I would absolutely hate to be mated to Branch or Harlan, but I want my mother to be happy. She hasn’t exactly had it easy - until she met George, and well, now she has to live with George.”
“George is a good man,” said Clay loyally, wondering if he knew the truth as well.
“Yeah, I suppose he is,” she agreed, though he figured she thought that no man would be good enough for her mother.
“So, are you happy now?” she asked slightly impudently.
He wouldn’t say happy but, he felt a little happier.
“Why not tell your mother you simply don’t want Branch or Harlan?”
“Haven’t you been listening? She’s stubborn as hell – that’s the only reason I’m sitting here now.”
Clay smiled. He was glad she was too. Her hand slipped so that their fingers were intertwined, and he felt a little giddy glee. It had been so long since he held hands with someone. It was a strange thing to miss, but he did. He and Crystal used to walk everywhere holding hands.
“Besides,” she added, “now that he’s got Mira, I’m home free on Branch. Not sure about Harlan, but hopefully, he’ll find a mate too. My mom just doesn’t back down from fights. That’s why I’m here, that’s why I never got my belly button pierced, and that’s why George stopped wearing corduroy suits and eating tuna salad sandwiches for lunch.”
“As someone who often has afternoon meetings with George, I’m very grateful for the latter.”
Maris laughed. “I’m grateful for the corduroy suits – the man rushes around so much I was worried he was going to start a corduroy related fire.”
His hand tightened around hers a little more. How had he not known this about her? Was he as bad as the rest of the herd – thinking her just a pretty face, thinking her mother to be just a gold digger? No, he’d never been so cruel as to either, but he certainly hadn’t considered either of their full worth. He’d fantasized about Maris for years, for her beauty, for her elegance, not realizing what a loyal and kind person lie behind her beauty.