To the Edge and Back [The Royal Wolves] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Honor James

  “And if we say no?” Janos asked, his eyes on the man that was speaking.

  At his blank look, Janos shrugged. “All you’re really doing is showing the packs that want us dead just who to target,” he said softly, his temper kicking back up another notch. Stroking Mina’s skin was helping to keep him from going right off, but it was a close thing. Anything that threatened her life was unacceptable. “You say you want to protect them, but are you really?” Janos enquired.

  The man nodded. “We have died for your family before. Nearly wiped off the earth ourselves, we limped away when it was clear that you were all gone, and we have hidden for years, building up our numbers.” And from the faces around them, he spoke the truth. The men all seemed to be very young compared to the large one speaking. “But you’re right.” He stood and, as one, the others did as well. “If you ever have need.” He flipped a card down and smiled. “But even when you don’t know we are close, we will be.” He winked at Mina and backed away. “We won’t fail again. That is the vow from all of us.”

  Chapter 33

  When they began to walk away, Mina felt Janos’s rage and desire to follow them and tear the man apart, but she placed her hand over his and shook her head. “Don’t, please.”

  Growling, he looked down at her. “Mina,” he said in disgust even as he made himself relax. Shifting, he sat down in one of the vacated chairs at her side. “One of these days I’m going to pulverize one of them no matter what you say just to make myself feel better.” Shifting the chair closer, he leaned his chin on her shoulder. “I love you, but tying my hands is not good, honey.”

  “I’m not tying them, and I don’t care if one day you beat the snot out of all of them, but not today.” Today was their day, and she didn’t want to have to worry about cleaning blood out of his hair on their day. “Right now is ours. Just be with me, all right?”

  Nodding slowly, he rubbed his chin over her shoulder gently. “Always,” he murmured before he kissed her cheek gently. “I’m sorry, love. I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said, rubbing her back lightly.

  “You didn’t upset me. Honestly, they did by coming in here as they did.” She sighed and shook her head. “I knew that it was bad with the whole bus incident, but that was nothing, was it?”

  When he just looked at her, she smiled. “I’m scared,” she admitted freely. “But I am never giving you up, Janos.” Shifting off her chair, she straddled his leg, the need to be closer a strong urge.

  “Good, because I’d have to abduct you and lock you in my room until you caved to my way of seeing things,” he told her with a smile. “May do that anyway,” he teased, “just because it sounds fun and just a little on the kinky side of things.”

  “I think that you are going to have to do that, Janos, because suddenly I no longer see things quite so clearly anymore.” She placed the top of her hand against her forehead. “Oh dear, I believe that I need assistance in seeing just why I need to love you for the rest of my life. It needs to be very detailed, too, so you may need to make some choices where I am concerned,” she added as she peeked through her eyelashes at him.

  Nipping at her jaw lightly, he growled. “I’m going to tie you down and have my very wicked way with you until you can’t remember your name. You will profess your undying love for me, woman, before I let you go free,” he told her, nibbling lightly down her neck to the mark on her skin. Teasing the edges that peeked out with his tongue, he moved his hands to wrap around her, one slipping up under her shirt to lie on her belly, his fingers teasing the underside of a breast.

  Her legs moved so that they were on each side of his thigh and her hands clenched on his shirt. “I think you should.” She whimpered and felt her body move closer to him. “More.” She tugged her shirt slightly so that he could have better access to the mark that he left on her. “I like how that feels when you touch it.”

  Brushing his teeth over the mark lightly, he licked at the wound gently and moved his hand up a little further, finding her nipple through the material of her bra. Pinching it gently, he nibbled over her mating mark even as he was fully aware of just where they were. Thank god he was the boss or they’d likely end up getting kicked out for what he was doing.

  She shivered and bit her lip to keep from moaning out. Gone from her mind was where they were. She was simply in the moment with him. No one else mattered or ever would.

  “Janos,” she whispered softly, “your brother, book, food, and home, Janos,” She was whimpering because all she wanted was to go back to that office with Janos and have him.

  Sighing, he lifted his head and let his hand slide down to lie over her stomach. “Right,” he muttered. “Let’s get out of here before I molest you again. But later”—he slid his eyes over her, licking his lips and smiling slightly—“later I’m going to strip you down and definitely molest you. Hopefully you reciprocate in kind,” he suggested.

  “I most certainly have plans to do very nicely wicked things to your body.” She leaned in because she couldn’t resist, and even though she was not on his lap, she pressed even closer. “I plan on licking you just as you have licked me. I want to see if you get just as large outside of my body with my lips around you as you do deep inside.” Her face flamed at her words, but she felt them, needed to do them even if saying them made her heated.

  Shuddering at her words, Janos moaned deeply in his throat. “God I love the way your mind works,” he breathed out hoarsely. Moving his hand down her stomach, he turned it over and rubbed the backs of his fingers low on her belly before easing them slightly under the band of her jeans. “We should go,” he said, regret clear in his voice. “We still need to see Ben.” And he hated that they couldn’t have more time just to themselves, but they both had lives and things to deal with.

  Her hips tilted up and rubbed against him as she nodded. “Right, I probably should move so that we can go, shouldn’t I?” Mina was finding it very difficult to move, to break the connection they had as she sat there practically on his lap. When it finally came back to her where they were, she blushed. “Besides, we can’t give everyone in here a show.”

  “They’d enjoy it too much,” he agreed softly even as his instincts kicked into high gear at the thought that she might have been exposed to all those eyes.

  She moved off of his knee carefully and then stood as she chewed her lip and watched him. She grinned. “Well at least Max wasn’t here, or neither of us would ever hear the end of it.” She wasn’t looking around, couldn’t look around because she didn’t want to see the looks on people’s faces.

  Standing, he cupped her cheek. “He’d never say a thing. He’d just give you those little looks.” Bastard was damned cheeky around Janos and he knew it was because they both knew he’d never lay a finger on Max. He might smack him upside his head from time to time, but that was about the extent of it.

  “I know he wouldn’t.” She liked Max. He had gotten her started on the bobbleheads, and she knew that he was the one who had contacted all of her customers and told them to send them to her as well. She sighed and shook her head. “In a way I am really going to miss my job, but in a way not because I will have more time to be here with you.” She touched his cheek and nodded. “Time to head out, my love.”

  Sighing, he nodded. “Come along then,” he muttered, thinking they really had better things to do rather than seeing his brother. Taking her hand, he led her through the throngs of people, rolling his eyes at some of the looks he was getting. Shaking his head as he pushed through the door, he told her, “I think you’ve just upped my reputation greatly around here.”

  Mina looked around and frowned. “All right, I will bite. What do you mean ‘upped your reputation’?” She wasn’t sure that she wanted to know the answer to that, but it was fun to watch his face as he let the thoughts run around and round in his mind.

  “Damn hot woman manhandling me in public,” he said with a grin. “Making all of the other males jealous because I’ve got the best-lookin
g woman around. It’s a good thing. It’ll make them all come in for a look and they’ll buy alcohol,” he teased, trying to wipe the smile off his face as he did it but failing miserably.

  She snickered and shook her head. “This was the one and only time that we give them a show. You can kiss me anytime that you want, you can manhandle me in your office, car, and home anytime that you want, but the ‘show’ they just received was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them.”

  “They don’t know that,” he pointed out with a sly look. “And we won’t be telling them either, will we?” he asked, opening the door of the car. “In. We’ll drive over to see Ben and then head to the store from there.”

  “To the store? What are we going to the store for, Janos?” she asked with a grin and then a shake of her head. “And no, we won’t be telling them at all, love. We will just do what we need to do so that we can make sure that we are able to get home at a good time, sound all right?”

  “For razors, a brush for you, and whatever else is on your list,” he said with a grin. “Did that loving fry your brain, my darling?” he asked, reaching out to stroke her cheek. “You feel a little warm. Could have done some damage if you overheated at all.”

  She was snickering as she realized that she had completely and totally forgotten all about their list. “I really, really hope that you have the list put away somewhere so that we can remember to get everything, Janos.” She smiled and patted his chest. “Now, yes, we will go to the store and we will figure out what all I need, at least for now until I can get new clothes, deal?”

  “We can do clothes, too, love, or at least a few basics,” he pointed out, nudging her into the car. Shutting her door, he went around and soon was cruising up the street to the bookstore. “A few tops, some bottoms, underwear, and another pair of shoes maybe?” he suggested as he parked in front of the shop.

  “Yes, boots would be good and a heavier coat.” Because she was freezing in her jacket and did every year. She was tired of being cold, tired of being alone, and no longer was.

  Chapter 34

  She looked at the bookstore and grinned. “How many of these does he have again?”

  “Three in the city, one up north in a little burg, and another to the south,” he said as he got out and went around to help her out. “They all seem to do really well,” he told her as he locked the car.

  Taking her hand, he led her into the large store that didn’t feel as large as it looked. “Ben says it’s because of the personal touch and the warm feel, unlike some of the big bookstores that are all about the product and nothing else.” Waving to one of the cashiers, he pointed to the back and got a nod as he moved through to the offices.

  “It is nice to be able to see that people are open and friendly.” She looked and saw that there were leather sofas, couches, and bean bags in the children’s section. “He lets them just read the books? They don’t have to buy them?” That was an original concept to her. The only place she knew that would do that was the library.

  “He figures if they are in here and reading then they aren’t on the streets in the gangs or buying drugs or anything else that might cause them harm. Plus, if they’re here reading, then they might learn something and, one day, they could end up buying books and reading to their own kids.” Pushing open the door marked “Employees Only,” he guided her down the hall.

  “That is a wonderful idea. Why don’t more people do that?” she asked quietly as they walked down the hall. Suddenly nervous, she looked up at Janos. “Are you sure that this is a good idea? He won’t hire me for charity and just because I am your mate, will he?”

  “Course he will,” Janos said and then grinned at her. “But he won’t. He’ll hire you because you’re the right person, that’s it.” Knocking on the office door, he heard the call to enter. He pushed open the door. “Hey, brother,” he said, nudging Mina inside. “Ben, this is my adorable mate, Mina. Mina, my big brother Benedek, though we just call him Ben unless he pisses us off.”

  Shaking his head, Ben stood and moved around the desk. “A pleasure to meet you, Mina. Congratulations to you both,” he said, taking her hand and kissing her fingertips lightly.

  Mina grinned and smiled up at him. “Thank you, Ben. It is nice to meet you.” She squeezed his hand and then asked, “Hopefully they don’t get too upset with you too often?”

  “It’s pretty rare, but the youngsters do have their moments of temper tantrums,” he said with a smile.

  “Hey, no telling tall tales to the new girl,” Janos protested, guiding her to a chair. “We’re actually here for a purpose,” he told his brother as he watched Ben retake his seat.

  “Oh?” he asked, looking to them. “And what would this mysterious purpose be?” Ben enquired with a grin.

  Mina grinned and nodded as she took a seat in the chair offered to her. “I seem to need a job,” she said very bluntly, “and Janos assured me that since I adore books, that you might possibly have a job opening for me?”

  “You like books?” Ben asked, leaning forward, his attention fully on her now. “All right, tell me about your favorite book. I want to know what it meant to you, what you got from it, and if it changed anything in your life or how you viewed it.”

  “Damn,” Janos said. “Sorry, love, didn’t realize there would be a test.”

  She sighed and shook her head. “That is easy. The Little Prince is my favorite, written by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, the story of meeting a young prince in the Sahara. It has so many poignant memories, but my favorite line is ‘On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.’ One cannot see well except with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes.” Her French was truly flawless, as though she had always spoken it.

  Ben shared a look with Janos and lifted a brow. “Good choice,” he said softly. “What do you know about first editions?” he asked next.

  Janos shifted, wondering just what that one was about. Of course he wanted to ask Mina about the book. Her choice was curious to him. The fact that it was one of his favorites meant that they would have something else to chat about.

  “I’ve never seen one because I have only used the local library. However, I know they are very rare. They are the first print run of a novel.” She shrugged. “What else did you have to ask me?” she asked him with a grin and squeezed Janos’s hand gently in hers.

  “When can you start, how many hours do you want, and is a thirty-percent staff discount good enough with the bonus that you can read on shift as long as all the clients are taken care of?” Ben asked with a grin.

  “I can start next week, only as many hours as Janos gives at the club close to here because I need and want to be with him as much as possible,” she said with a smile, “and thirty percent is wonderful. It is far more than I could have ever expected, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Ben grinned at her and then looked to his brother. “Thanks, bro.” He chuckled. “Damn, I love having people that actually like books working here.”

  Spinning his chair around, Ben pulled open one of the file cabinets and pulled out some forms. “You can either fill these all out now or tonight. Just get them back to me by your first shift, which, if I remember Janos’s schedule, will be tomorrow afternoon from four until closing. I’ll drop you off at the club and then you can head out with him,” he said, getting a nod from his brother.

  She was all smiles. “I love books.” She did, too, and so him telling her that she had a job was a blessing in more ways than one. “I will fill these out later and bring them in with me tomorrow. For right now, however, I really would like to get our shopping done.” She reached out her hand to Ben. “Again, thank you so very much. Thank you for everything.”

  Standing, Ben shook her hand before lifting it to kiss her fingertips again lightly. “You are most welcome,” he told her softly. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mina, and welcome to the family.” He smiled, letting her hand go.

  “Later, big brother,
” Janos said, taking Mina’s hand in his, and tugged her out of the room. “See,” he said as the door shut behind them. “Told you he’d give you the job. You should never doubt your mate,” he teased, squeezing her fingers lightly.

  “I will have to keep that in mind, Janos. However, there will have to be times where I disagree with you simply because I need and want to be able to have make-up sex with you.” She nodded. “Yes, that sounds so glorious, make-up sex.”

  Chuckling at her, he shook his head. “We could just disagree on a bunch of stuff and then have a mini argument, agree to disagree, and then have make-up sex,” he suggested as he opened the car for her. “Or we could just have sex.” He grinned at her.

  “See, now there is the best choice of everything, so I think that is how we will deal with it. We will just simply have sex, lots and lots and often.” She paused and frowned. “What about pregnancy? I am not on anything to not get pregnant, so what do we do?”

  “You can’t get pregnant for a while,” he told her softly. “Wolves and humans can have children, but it takes about four months for all the pheromones and such to take effect on a human’s system. Even then it’s touch and go for another few months. If you were Wolf, the time gets cut down dramatically to about a month for our systems to be synchronized correctly and to get you pregnant.”

  “But after that, how do we not get pregnant right away?” She smiled as she added, “Don’t get me wrong, I want your children, Janos. I want a whole houseful of children with you. However, I need you to know that I want time with you. I need time with you, just for us. I want to have time to just be young and in love and especially with the danger that we have right now without bringing innocent children into the world, yet.”