by M. L. Briers
His chin was down low to his chest and he glared at her under dark brows that went lower with each step he took.
Really, really going to die! The words ponged against the walls of her brain.
She wasn’t sure if it was her or if his eyes really were getting darker the closer he got to her.
Gonna die. Gonna die! Pinging and ponging back and forth until her mind screamed for the damn car to start.
Kate watched him walk a slow determined path towards her and she let out a little yelp of fear. Slapping the door locks on, she thought he might just plant one of those big fists that were clenched at his sides, on the end of his really muscled arms, right through her window to get to her when he stopped next to the door.
Dead. Just one word. Just one thought. Just one moment in time when all she could see was his lower body and those fists standing statue still next to her window, perfectly framed for her viewing experience…
Dex was holding it together by the sheer desire not to kill his mate. That would be bad. That would be worse than bad. That would be a tragedy from which he would never recover. He growled at his wolf that way baying for her blood inside him.
Challenge.
Not a damn challenge! Self preservation… Evil and mean and twisted self preservation, but none the less, she had used the only means to incapacitate him that she possessed, and to brain numbing effect.
Mate. Dex warned his wolf. Mate and not a challenge, well she was a challenge, but not in the damn way his wolf was assessing her to be. Mate and we don’t kill our mate. His wolf growled, then whined, then sulked.
Dex felt the wolf pulling back from him.
“I’m sorry.” She spat out as she jumped backwards away from the window when his face appeared. He was still all dark and moody, and she could understand why. But he didn’t look like he was going to kill her anymore.
“How sorry?” He retorted and she felt a flash of fire go through her mind and body.
“Not enough to rub them better…” She spat out and noted what could possibly have been a flash of amusement in his eyes before he glared back at her.
“You’re still under contract…” He reminded her.
Kate closed her eyes and let the adrenalin pumping through her body have its day. She felt like she could run a marathon and scale a tall building all at once. That was surely going to hit her later.
Just like the time she had eaten the bulk-buy chocolate that was supposed to last her a whole month, all in one go, and then cleaned her apartment on the sugar rush. She had been the epitome of the battery bunny, she just kept going. Although her apartment was spotless, she doubted even her mother could have found a dust bunny.
“Open the door…”His deep tones floated towards her and she hesitated for a long moment. One hand was still fisting the steering wheel in front of her in a death grip and she couldn’t let go. It was like a lifeline.
“You’re going to kill me…”She pouted and he couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face.
“A dead contractor is of absolutely no use to me whatsoever.” The amusement in his tone made her turn her head towards him and she saw the amusement in his eyes.
“Sure?”
“Certain.”
“Do you keep your word?”
“Nine out of ten times…” He grinned back at her devilishly and she frowned back at him.
“Well that doesn’t fill me with confidence. I could be the one in ten…” She reasoned and he sighed to himself.
“If I were to kill you, it would be after you complete the job. Good enough?” He reasoned and she shrugged.
“Not really. But my damn car won’t start and I’m not sitting here for eternity.”
“I know a good mechanic…”
“Me too, at home…” She retorted and then mumbled, “if only I were there now.”
Kate popped the door and motioned for him to back off. She didn’t much feel like slamming the door into his knees, or anything as subtle as that, not right now anyway. She’d had more than her pound of flesh where he was concerned.
“I wouldn’t advise ever doing anything like that to me again though.” He tried to keep his tone as light as he could, but she still swallowed down the dryness in her throat.
“Now with the threats?” She muttered.
“Well I wasn’t going to do it until you opened the door…”He reached in, wrapped his fingers around her arm and pulled her out in front of him.
“I know this isn’t a secret or anything, but I’d just like to put it out there in the universe. I don’t like you…” She informed him on a huff. There was even a small upwards curl to her lips as she shared that fact with him, and he beamed down at her.
“You don’t have to like me. You just have to do a good job so that I don’t kill you until after the project’s completed. If we’re on the same page, I’ll just grab your suitcase and get the garage to come get your car.” His tone was level. There didn’t seem to be an ounce of any emotion in his voice, but the sarcastic glare he was giving her let her know otherwise and she shrugged.
“Fine.” She pouted that one word. Crossing her arms under her breasts and heaving them upwards and outwards. He dropped his eyes to her chest and she saw an honest to goodness flare in his nostrils. The man was such an animal, she told herself turning away from him.
“Do they even have a name for your condition?”
“Male.” He retorted.
Dex yanked his mobile from the back pocket of his jeans and his thumb played over the buttons. Kate listened to his side of the conversation, even though she pretended that she wasn’t.
“Yeah, it’s outside Westie’s hotel… No rush I can think off…” She spun back around to look at him and he gave her a victorious lopsided grin as she huffed her annoyance. “Sure, take all the time in the world. The little lady isn’t going anywhere…Thanks.” He raised a brow at her and watched as she ground her teeth together.
There was so much that she wanted to say, so much that she burned to say, and yet she kept her mouth firmly closed. For right now she was stuck in this town, but if she decided to leave, she would damn well walk out if she had too.
When he yanked her suitcase from the back seat of her car he walked it over to the black pickup and swung it into the back seat.
“Hey!” Kate’s brow couldn’t have gotten any lower on her face than it did right at that moment and it reflected her mood perfectly.”What the hell?” She’d dropped her arms and was motioning towards her belongs stashed in his car.
He slammed the door shut before walking back towards her car and nudging the back door closed with his knee. Dex casually leaned an elbow onto the roof of her old junker and just looked down at her for a long moment, like he was considering how to phrase something.
“Well, let me see. You have no car, so no means to get to and from the site. I have a guest house going begging on my property within easy walk of the site. I’m paying your hotel bill, so I might as well kill two birds with one stone and take you to our guest house. Saves money and some poor slob having to drag his backside down here to get you every day and bring you home, and as that poor slob would be me…”He didn’t meet her eyes. He just stared off into the distance.
There was so much she wanted to say, again! And yet couldn’t, again!
“But you’re still not going to kill me?” There was a level of sarcasm in her voice that had him smiling on the inside. And when he did turn his eyes down to her, she looked a little nervous, but not the scared rabbit she had been earlier.
“This whole killing thing really bothers you doesn’t it?” It was his turn to level the sarcasm at her and she rolled her eyes and turned towards his car.
“Fine. Whatever, kill me, do what you like…” She knew those words had been the wrong one’s the moment she spoke them.
He was at her side in an instant. The very next instant her back was to the car and he had her trapped with his hands planted on the pickup either side of her body.
“Anything I like?” He drawled down at her with deep seductive tones that had her body right back at square one, when she had wanted to reach out and touch him.
“Over my dead body…” The words sounded like denial, but her body was good to go and they both knew it. The predatory smile of a beast that had its prey in his sights spread across his face.
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary Kate, but…”He gave a one shoulder shrug and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“Eew.” She tried to look anywhere but at him. But without tipping her head back and looking up at the sky, there really was nowhere to look. His broad shoulders took out the whole damn scenery around them. “Can we go now?”
“Sure.” He said, yanking open the passenger door, but making no effort to allow her room to move. “Do you want to back off, or do we do the knee thing again?” Her heart skipped within her chest at the thought.
“That really wouldn’t be a good idea.” The low level rumble in his chest made her bring her eyes up to his and he hesitated for a long moment before he stepped back and motioned for her to get in.
For one long moment she was going to tell him to shove it. Grab her case, tip her proverbial hat and show him her backside, like a cat who really didn’t give a damn, as she strolled out of town.
But what would that achieve? She was here. She had a contract and a bruised knee to show for her endeavours today. And if she hadn’t of used said knee to split some hairs, would she really think twice about getting in the damn car with her boss?
She never had before. She’d worked sites up and down the country. Different venues with different crews, and she accepted lifts for numerous men. Admittedly none that she’d hit with a car, or tortured with her knee cap, but still…
“It seems the worst idea I’ve had lately was working for you.” She grumbled as she practically threw herself into the passenger seat and stared out of the window ahead of her. Tactfully ignoring him, she told herself, not childishly.
The sound of the door slamming next to her made her jump slightly in her seat as the whole car actually rocked with the force of the blow it took. Damn, she was glad she had all her digits inside the car.
Dex took longer than he needed to walk around to the driver’s side. Each step he took calmed him a little more for the journey with his mate.
He was a pretty easy going guy, but he wasn’t entirely sure how fate thought she was a good choice as his soul mate. The woman was insane, or rushing towards insanity at an alarming rate. God help the pair of them.
Dex dropped into the seat beside her and shot her a look. Her body shifted in her seat, so she knew his eyes were on her, but she made no move to look at him.
He fired up the truck and put it into gear.
“Put your seatbelt on.” He went to release the brake but she made no move to comply with his request. “Seatbelt.” He repeated, slower and more precise this time, and turned to look at her.
“I’m not a child…” She started with a defiant lift of her chin and he really wanted to hit his forehead against the steering wheel, several times.
“Perhaps if you didn’t act like one…” He offered between grinding teeth and he heard her head snap around to look at him. He could feel her eyes glaring. He didn’t need to see them.
“You really are the most…” She started. Dex groaned long and hard.
“Look…” He growled over the top of her, but she wasn’t having any of it.
“But hey, if you think your driving is that bad…” She shot his male ego right in the butt with that arrow, and he groaned as he turned his whole body towards her in his seat and glared down at her.
“I’ll put it on you my damn self, if I happen to strangle you with it…”He started to reach across her body to retrieve the strap, but she turned in her seat and grabbed hold of it herself.
“I can do it!” She snapped back at him. Tugging on the belt too hard and locking it in place. “Damn…” She cursed yanking and yanking against the strap.
Dex rolled his eyes and growled at her as he reached for it to free it. “Stop pulling on it, it’s locked in place…” His hand was just about to connect with the belt when she half heartedly gave up and the thing slipped backwards, before she yanked it one more time.
The belt whizzed through its holder and her fist connected with his nose as she yelped in pain.
CHAPTER THREE
Kate’s fingers released the belt and it snapped back into place. Dex felt the blow to his nose and the pain seared through his skull. The crunch of his nose was nothing compared to the crack of her knuckles and he growled in annoyance.
Kate grabbed her hand and cradled it against her chest. The pain screamed through her hand and up her wrist, but right now she was more worried about the man who was practically in her seat with her. His dark eyes glared at her as he breathed down the nose she had just punched, like a dragon without smoke or fire. But she thought the fire probably raged inside him somewhere.
“Lady you’re dangerous to be around.” He growled and she flinched.
“If you hadn’t of tried…” She started to justify what had happened, but the low growl that rolled from him had her snapping her jaws shut.
“If you had just put the god damn belt on to start off with…” He looked about ten different shades of pissed off and her inner self really felt like whimpering in a corner somewhere. And her hand hurt like a bitch!
Dex took a long moment to steady his nerves and his wolf within him. Fate was definitely testing his resolve. When he started to pull back away from her, he noticed the way she was still cradling her hand and knew that no matter how much his nose was hurting right now, and she had rung his bell really well, her hand had taken the real force of the blow.
“Let me see your hand.” He held out his hand, palm up and she balked at the idea, which only caused him to growl at her again. “Remember last time and how well that turned out. Now let me see your damn hand.” He demanded, putting some of his Alpha spirit behind his tone, and she hesitated for only a moment before she offered it to him.
He could see the bruising already starting to form under the skin across her knuckles and inwardly cursed his thick Lycan skull. With infinitely gentle care he rubbed his thumb over the bruised knuckles and felt for a displacement, or even a break and she went to pull her hand away at his touch, but something stopped her and she let him finish his inspection.
“It’s fine.” She offered and his eyes took a moment to come up to hers. She saw the annoyance on his face and swallowed down just how stupid she felt.
“It’s not fine. They are already starting to swell. We need ice.” He let go of her hand and popped the car door open, disappearing without another word and leaving her sitting there alone.
“No really, I’ll just sit here. Thanks.” She muttered to herself, with her chin on her chest as she went back to cradling her hand.
Dex reappeared all of ten minutes later with a bag of frozen peas and a tea towel. Wrapping the peas within the towel, he motioned for her hand again and this time she held it out straight away.
He wrapped his fingers around hers and placed the bag against her knuckles and she flinched and tried to pull away, but he held her hand in place until the ice eased the pain and that physically eased the tension within her body.
“Thanks.” She flicked her eyes towards him and he nodded. Finally breaking the contact between them as he went to reach around her but stopped, holding his palms up in front of him as if surrendering to her, he pinned her with his eyes.
“I’m going to put your seat belt on. Do not do anything. Don’t even breathe.” He teased and she clamped down on her jaw before a smile broke across her face that she couldn’t subdue, even though she did try.
“Not moving.” She assured him and he grinned as he reached over her body, snagged the belt and eased it around her. He was as aware as she was at how close they were in that moment, and her eyes flicked away from him as she started to turn her
head and he growled at her.
“Don’t move. It’s safer for us both if you don’t.” He teased again and she bit down on her lower lip as she rolled her eyes, trying to kill the grin on her face.
The sight of her biting down on her lip enthralled him to the point where he very nearly groaned with the ache to taste her lips for himself. Her scent was a sweet distraction, but he would bet his right arm that her lips would taste just as sweet.
Dex caught himself staring and pulled back from her. Tearing his eyes away and snapping the belt into its mooring, he physically had to talk himself into turning towards the steering wheel and not taking her lips with his.
His wolf growled inside him. The feral part of his persona wanted to do more than kiss her. Damn the things he could do to her…
Dex knew that the ache within his jeans for her wasn’t going to go away. His penis refused to be kept down, even after what she had done to his balls, and this twenty minute journey was going to seem like a lifetime in hell. He needed to get home. He needed to get just ten minutes in the shower to ease his suffering. He was all but healed and rearing to go, and go, and go…
Dex tried to keep his mind on the road ahead, but it was a little hard to do when your mate was sitting beside you. That and the fact that she was a back seat driver, anxious for control of the vehicle, and he thanked his lucky stars the truck didn’t have duel controls.
He knew he was driving a little fast. But with his reaction time and eyesight, he could see everything coming and could react to it before her brain would have formulated the dangers.
Unfortunately he couldn’t tell her that, and the way she jumped slightly in her seat, gasped at dangers that weren’t really there, and her good hand reached for the imaginary steering wheel in front of her, while her foot went for the imaginary brake amused him.
By the time they reached the road leading up to pack land, he was hoping for perceived dangers, just so she would make the little gasping sound that he found so appealing. He was kind of hoping that was the same noise she would make when he was buried inside her.