“Guys, please.” She grips Ben’s bicep.
I glance at her. “You’re scaring Shav, Ben.”
“My apologies.” He steps back. “To Shavone, not you.” Ben picks up the box outside and walks toward my truck.
“What the hell are you doing, Nash?” She hisses at me.
My eyes drop to her tits, again. “What do you expect a man, a wolf, to do when you answer the door dressed like this?”
“They’re called pajamas.” She blushes, and crosses her arms over her chest which just squashes them together deliciously.
“Don’t you have a damn robe?” I’m barely keeping my wolf at bay. We both want to feast on what we see.
“Why are you angry with me?”
“Because you’re flashing your tits.” And I want them.
“I’m not flashing anything. I’m dressed.”
“Barely,” I scowl.
From the corner of my eye, I see Ben coming back up the sidewalk.
She steps up and pokes an index finger into my chest, completely forgetting to cover herself.
“As we’ve established last night, I’m a grown woman, Nashton LaFontaine, not a nun.” Her nostrils flare and her tits heave. Those nipples begging for my mouth. Damn. She’s super sexy when she’s mad.
Putting my hands behind my back so I don’t touch, I grin.
“Why are you smiling?”
I drop my eyes to her chest. “Because I am so glad you’re not a nun.”
“Argh.” She spins away, madder than a hornet.
I laugh just as Ben enters the house.
Face flushed, Shav stomps to the dining area and grabs a travel bag off the table. “I’ll go change now,” she growls.
“Hey. What’s wrong?” Ben takes her elbow, worried frown on his forehead.
“Nothing. I’ll be right back.” She slings the bag over her shoulder. The strap of the bags pulls the shoulder strap of the top, damn near popping her left tit right out. Lifting her chin, she scurries to the bathroom.
“Asshole. She was practically crying. What did you say to her?” Ben says.
“None of your damn business.” She wasn’t crying. She was pissed.
“The hell it’s not. I won’t let you abuse her.”
“Me?” I bark a laugh. “That’s your style, not mine.”
“Fuck you.” Ben snarls back.
“She’s sweet and innocent. I will not allow her to be tainted by your crap.”
“Tainted? What century are you from?” Ben chuckles. “Maybe she wants to be tainted.”
I grab him by the collar and slam him to the wall. My wolf wants to rip his head off.
“Get off me.” Ben’s eyes flash green. His wolf is ready to go at me.
“Stop fucking fighting and make some goddamn coffee!” Shavone’s shout comes right through the paper thin wall.
Ben chuckles. “You heard the lady — who cusses like a sailor.”
I can’t help but crack a smile, too.
Ben pushes me off him.
“Fine.”
He goes back to loading boxes. Taking two steps to the kitchen, I pop the lid on the coffee canister. Just as I flip the brew button on the coffee maker, Shavone comes back to the dining room. Wearing jeans, a t-shirt advertising the Royal Gorge — with a bra under it, thank fuck, and a long braid down her back, she narrows her eyes at me.
I grin at her.
Her mouth flattens in a line. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she hoists a smaller box in her arms and takes two steps to the door.
“I’ll get that, baby.” I take the shit out of her arms. “You need to eat breakfast.”
Ben watches us. Her bag over my shoulder, I tuck the box under my arm so I have a free hand to put on the side of her waist. I lean in, kiss her cheek.
“Nash, what is going on with you?”
I stroke her hip. “Just a change of plans, Shav, that’s all.”
My cousin snakes an arm around her other side and smiles. “It’s okay, kitten.” He nuzzles her throat while I watch and caress her hip on my side. Her eyes on mine, her sweet mouth opens in response to what Ben’s doing. Damn. Down, wolf, down.
Ben’s hand slides down to her ass and he kisses her, hard — stopping only when I clear my throat.
“Nash is right, go eat.” Ben pats her ass and points her toward the kitchen.
As she rounds the corner, she glances back over her shoulder at us. Poor baby looks so confused, but not mad anymore.
Ben picks up another box. “Maybe,” he mouths to me as he steps toward the door.
What I wouldn’t give for a ménage with Shavone, to watch her writhe, begging for it, to come screaming. I bet she’s a screamer. Could I be any fucking harder right now? I shift the box to cover the bulge in my pants.
“Hey,” Ben says. “Before we load any more little shit, we’ll want to get any bigger stuff you have.”
Brow creased, Shavone watches us from the door. “The biggest thing I have is a bike.”
“You weren’t kidding when you said you had no furniture?”
She shakes her head. “Nope. Not a stick of this is mine.”
“Well, hell. This move will be done in one load then,” Ben says.
“Go eat, Shavone,” I say.
My cousin climbs into the bed of the truck to shift boxes back.
“Damn, Nash. She might be open to it,” he says, keeping his voice low.
“Don’t get my hopes up.”
Through the kitchen window, I see her peel back the lid of a yogurt. She dips a spoon in and licks it clean.
“Fuck me,” Ben whispers.
Fluttering her lashes, Shav meets both our eyes through the window.
“Maybe,” I whisper.
We go back inside for more boxes.
“Coffee, Ben?” She asks.
He nods. She pours some into a styrofoam cup.
“Cream or sugar?” She asks.
“Nope. You’re all the creamy sweet I need, kitten,” Ben pecks her on the cheek and, one hand caressing her behind, he takes the cup.
She squints at me. “Would you like some, Nash?”
I smile and smile big.
Her frown throws me off. I know she’s confused by how I’m acting. I didn’t intend to move this fast, but I can’t let Ben undercut me.
“I’ll take whatever the ‘some’ is you’re offering.” My voice is husky — can’t help it. Now that I’ve let my true feelings out, there’s no going back. She’s so flabbergasted that she spills the coffee, almost getting her hand.
“Careful now.” I shove Ben out of the way and put an arm around her waist. Ripping a paper towel from the roll, I wipe the spill from the counter.
She hands me the cup. My arm still around her, I lean down and kiss the corner of her soft mouth, the closest I’ve ever come to kissing her.
Damn. I blow out a breath and force the wolf in me to calm down. “Thank you, baby,” I murmur and nuzzle behind her ear. She smells so good.
Ben’s smile broadens, but he narrows his eyes at me. I just grin back as I go by, taking a long sip of coffee.
Ben looks at Shav, judging her reaction, I think.
She shrugs an I-have-no-idea-what’s-going-on.
You will soon, baby.
While we carry and load, Shavone strips the linens off her bed, tapes up the final boxes and starts cleaning.
Her phone chimes. Slipping the thing from her back pocket, she glances at the screen. She grimaces. Whoever it is, Shav doesn’t want to talk to them. She glances at Ben and me.
“Hey, girlfriend.” She answers.
Which girlfriend? I perk up my Lycan hearing. The voice isn’t familiar to me. Maybe a college friend?
“Oh, shopping with you sounds fun, but I can’t. I’m in the middle of moving.”
“Go,” Ben says. “Nash and I have this covered. Don’t we?” He grins at me.
“Sure.” I shrug. We’d work faster having her gone. It’d give my cock a chance to re
cover. “Go shopping, Shavone. We’ll be your lackeys today.”
“Who is that?” The girlfriend asks. I still can’t place the voice. Who is this chick?
“A couple of friends of mine,” she says into the phone, eyeing me and Ben.
Smiling, Ben winks. I raise my eyebrows.
You’re hiding something, Shavone. What is it?
“Well, damn. Send your friends to my place next. I could use some lackeys.” The voice laughs loud.
Ben smirks. “Go,” he mouths. “We don’t have much left. It won’t take us long to finish up.”
She covers the phone mic. “Are you sure?”
“We’re sure. Go have some fun. You deserve a break.”
She takes her finger off the mic and speaks into the phone. “I guess I’m going shopping with you.”
“Which mall? Cherry Creek or Park Meadows?” The voice asks.
“Cherry Creek. I’ll meet you at the MAC store.”
She agrees and they hang up.
Ben reaches in his back pocket for his wallet. “Do you need money?”
With an amused grin, she says, “Where were you when I was 16?”
He narrows his eyes in thought. Then, his face falls as he remembers that we were both in Iraq.
“An ugly, ugly place,” he says.
After a second or two, Ben’s smile comes back and he holds out a wad of bills. It’ll piss me off if she takes his money.
I paid Shav’s electric bill once, and only once. The shit storm she gave me was loud and epic. Now I just make deposits into her trust. She thinks it’s coming from some mutual fund.
“I’ve got what I need,” she says quietly. “But thank you. That’s really generous and sweet.” She kisses his cheek.
Great. I get bitched at, he gets a kiss.
“Can I get one of those?” I move in on the other side, box her in between Ben and me.
“Okay.” She eyes me for a second. Then, her eyes flutter closed as her soft lips touch my skin.
“Thank you, baby.” I sigh, fantasizing about a whole lot more.
Ben puts his money and wallet away while Shav steps inside to get her purse. My cousin and I stand there like idiots watching her ass sway.
“Leave the cleaning supplies,” she says. “I’ll come back this afternoon and finish up. I want my security deposit back.”
“Alright,” I mumble.
Before she goes, Ben places a ring of keys in her hand. “For the house.”
“Geez.” She holds it up. “So many?”
“It’s a big house. There’s a separate key for every exterior door and a few interior ones — wine cellar for instance.” He smiles. “And my bedroom.”
I chuckle. “She won’t be needing that one.”
Ben reaches into one of his front pockets and pulls out a garage remote. “This opens both gates into the estate and the far west garage doors — which are yours. Tap once for the north door, twice for the south door, three times for both.”
He tucks the device into her purse.
“Let me see your phone,” he commands and holds out his hand.
She slides it from her back pocket and gives it to him. In her contacts, Ben enters his name and our new address. “My address is now your address.”
Ben inputs his cell and work numbers. Then he taps his cell number to call himself with her phone. Once his rings, he answers and adds Shav to his contacts.
“Day or night. I’m at your beck and call, kitten,” Ben murmurs as he hands the phone back. “Call me anytime.”
“Now, get the hell out of here.” I bark at her playfully.
She gets in her car and drives down the street.
“I think we both made some inaccurate assumptions, cousin,” Ben says.
“Maybe.” I watch her taillights disappear around the corner.
chapter seventeen
ONCE I’M OUT of sight of my house, I pull over and sit there for a moment, attempting to reconcile the Nash I experienced this morning with the Nash I’ve known all my life.
What the hell was all that about? That was a side to his personality that’s completely new to me — part protective brother, part aggressive charmer. I’m familiar with the protectiveness. This new flirtatious Nash? Not so much.
I almost believe he’s attracted to me, which is absurd. He’s never showed a bit of interest. Perhaps he’s attempting to cock block Ben? Or, more likely, it’s just another distraction from Val. That makes much more sense. All summer, Nash has tried to keep me busy, to keep my mind off my sister.
His distractions work briefly, but all are short-lived.
The craziness analyzed, I take a deep breath and reach for my phone to call Paige.
I panicked when she called. But I did well covering and didn’t use her name. The last thing I want right now is for Nash to run a check on her. He’d discover my plan for sure if he did.
“I have to run a quick errand or two, but I’ll be there.” I tell Paige.
“No problem. I’ll just browse and put some things aside for you.”
I tap off the phone and put the car in gear, veering east for a slight detour to my favorite camera store. I need a new lens — something I’ve had my eye on for awhile, something great for long range shots through a window.
After the camera shop, I head to the mall, but visit the Apple store on the upper level first. There I purchase the laptop Garrett recommended and put it in my trunk next to the lens. Then, I drive to the other side of the mall and enter downstairs near the MAC store.
Once inside, I’m quickly ensconced on a tall stool at a makeup counter to be colorized by Paige and a clerk.
I leave with a small case filled with brushes and applicators, base makeup, fake eyelashes, assorted pots of pigments and a collection of various mixing mediums — whatever those are.
Geez. I spent a great deal of money today. I rationalize it two ways: Val’s worth it and, as of today, I live rent free. A few months of no rent and I’m back on budget.
I park the Saturn next to Paige’s car in front of her place. An hour later, she and I stare into the vanity mirror in her bedroom. She’s taught me how to mix the pigments with the mediums to get different shades, how to contour my face into a different shape and how to paint my eyes in such a way that I look like a wide-eyed doll, like a mannequin surprised by something. Honestly, by the time she’s done with me, I hardly recognize myself.
“Wow. You are exceedingly talented. Makeup artist extraordinaire.” I turn my head side to side. “You should move to Hollywood and do this for a living.”
“I do it for a living here in Denver,” she says, picking up a hair brush. “I become Paulina with all this.” She waves a hand at her makeup case.
I squint into the mirror. “Do I look like a ‘Sara’?”
“Is that your doll name?”
“Apparently.”
She stops mid brush. “You didn’t pick it?” She asks.
“No.”
Paige’s eyes widen. “Cruz named you?”
I nod.
“Whoa.”
“It’s not usual for him to do that, is it?”
Paige shakes her head and studies me. After a beat, she resumes brushing her hair. “Do you think he’s into you, Shavone?”
“I’m not sure,” I murmur, packing away my makeup. The entire interview felt surreal, his demeanor especially.
Lips pressed into a line, she says, “It could work in your favor. Like I said before, Tanya won’t fuck with you if she thinks you’re Cruz’s doll.”
“Maybe,” I say. “So, will you get upset if I wash off Sara right away? This shit itches.”
“Not at all,” Paige laughs. “I scrub Paulina away before I even leave the Dollhouse.”
Lucky for me. Had she used the employee entrance as Paulina, I likely wouldn’t have recognized her.
Paige demonstrates how best to take off the fake lashes and properly store them. Then, how best to use the moisturizing makeup remover she
insisted I buy.
All cleaned up, we settle in her living room with a big pot of herb tea.
I take note of a Community College of Denver course catalog on the coffee table. “Hey.” I smile at Paige.
“Yeah, yeah.” She waves me off. “I enrolled in one English class at the Auraria campus.”
“That’s awesome.” I squeal, delighted for her.
“We shall see how awesome it is. It’s been a long time since I did homework.”
“Tell you what. You help me navigate the Dollhouse, I’ll help you get reacquainted with homework.”
“Deal.” She smiles and pours more tea for each of us. Sitting back, she studies me, again. “I haven’t told how sorry I am. About Val, I mean. I hope she comes home soon.”
“Thank you.” My throat seizes up.
“So, do you see much of the Springs crowd?”
To non-witches, covens look like tight cliques of friends. We make sure of it.
“Yeah.” I nod. “My friends and I stay in touch. We get together when we can.”
“And Nash?”
I almost laugh. That’s where this line of questioning is going. “Yeah. He’s like my big brother, you know? Still watching over me.”
And flirting with me this morning.
She nods. “I had a huge crush on him.”
“I think we all did.” I grimace playfully remembering how jealous I was of his high school girlfriends. I’d watch from our porch when he left for dates and dances — all dressed up for someone else.
Paige and I sip in silence for a moment.
She takes a giant breath and exhales hard. “I don’t think he’d approve of you working at the Dollhouse.”
“You’re probably right.” I stare into the honey-colored liquid in my cup imagining his enraged reaction when he finds out. He will, one day. “But a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.” I glance at Paige through my lashes.
With a sad grimace, she sighs. “Girl, don’t I fucking know it.” She sips and sits up straight. “So, navigating the Dollhouse. Let’s start with the top three rules. Rule number one is to never give your real name to anyone inside the House — other girls, customers — nobody should know your real name. Tanya is the only one who needs to know and that’s for payroll only.”
I nod.
“Rule number two. Never, ever date a man you meet at the House.”
Soft Shatter (Wolven Moon Book 1) Page 12