by M. L. Briers
“You’ve got my vote.”
“But, do I have you, Ginny? We’ve only just met-”
“You’re right,” she nodded on a playful frown. “It’s probably too soon.”
His heart sank again- right until she sniggered. Then his beast roared a warning at him, something about pussyfooting about, he guessed…
“Definitely too soon for this,” he brought his lips down on hers again, and felt her all in. She melted against him in a heartbeat, but her backside moved on his lap and her body pushed against his hard length. He growled like a man possessed of a demon wolf…
His hands skirted up her body and he cupped her face, easing back from the kiss…
“And this…” he dipped his head and nuzzled between the valley of her breasts, his tongue tasting her skin, and her head went back while her hips went forwards, and she arched her back to give him better access…
“No, not too soon for that,” she breathed out… a moment later and his hands locked around the fabric of her shirt and he ripped downwards, exposing her full, ripe breasts that sat in the lacy, underwired number that made his eyes almost pop out on stalks…
“Damn,” he had to get a grip on himself. He’d almost lost his load in his jeans at the sight of her… “I wanna leave that on for a little while, sweetheart…” he growled out, but his hands were already cupping her breasts and he was rubbing the pads of his thumbs over her hard nipples.
“I can live with that,” she bit her lower lip as little shots of electrical goodness hit her womb as he rolled his thumbs… he growled again, dipping his head and running his blunt teeth against those perfect nipples… “Just…” he silenced her when he closed his lips and sucked hard…
Ginny ran her fingers through his hair, fisting it as he sucked and nipped against her flesh. He growled long and hard as he released one nipple, only to turn his head and capture the other…
“Not too soon at all…” she said, moving her hips and rubbing her clit like an alley cat against his length.
“Damn well is for that, baby,” he growled, before bringing his lips up to hers, capturing them, and devouring her with hot kisses as his arms went around her and he pushed up from the floor- she gave a little start of surprise, breaking away from his lips to look and see why her world was moving around her.
Michael stalked across the room with her. Kicking open the bedroom door- he took her into the half light of the room- the curtains still pulled closed over the windows, barring the spring sunshine from getting inside…
“Any more of that and I’m not going to be able to keep my end of the deal,” he growled out…
“Some deals deserve to be broken, altered, moved on from their original concept,” her eyes shone with glee and need.
“Not this one,” he growled out with everything that he had. He wanted her alright, but he wanted every inch of her- all at once.
“Well, let’s play it by ear,” she giggled as he took her down to the bed with him.
“Sounds good to me,” he was grateful for the lack of pressure. His beast was raring to bond with her, and if he did lose his mind and lose control, unable to stop himself from taking her before he’d done what he’d set out to do- he’d damn well make it up to her again and again…
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Harley stood by the back window and greeted the night that was closing in. She’d been thinking long and hard on everything that had happened since she’d arrived, since Ginny had arrived, and she’d made a point to stay out of everyone’s way in the meantime, knowing that she wasn’t particularly good company to be around.
She wasn’t deaf, blind, or stupid to the fact that her mate kept an eye on her. She’d felt those eyes on her time and time again, and yet he had the good sense to stay away, letting her have the time that she needed to sort things through.
The sound of the mating howl pierced the silence of the outside world and made her body snap to attention with the realisation of who it was that howl was for…
“I don’t damn well believe it,” she ground out each and every word as she closed her eyes and refrained from punching the window in front of her, broken knuckles was the last thing she needed. “Of all the stupid, bloody, irrational…” she was on a roll and he hated to interrupt her…
“I guess your sister is willing to take a leap of faith,” Colin offered, putting it the most diplomatic way that he could think of. “And she doesn’t have a thing for vampires.” He couldn’t help the jibe.
“Maybe her mate is better at the whole wooing thing,” Harley snapped back, regretting it the moment that it was out of her mouth. A challenge, almost, damn stupid, definitely- because now he just might up his game and that was all that she needed.
“Maybe I should just kiss you into submission again,” Colin offered- liking the thought of that.
“Maybe you should just… go chase a damn twig or something,” she hissed out.
The pair of them stood there in silence until the heavy thud of the back door took their attention. The sound of feet on the hard wood floor made Colin roll his head on his neck, and then Meredith was standing there staring back at them with a frown…
“I heard the mating howl, thought you two had done the dirty deed.” Meredith bit out, looking a little disgruntled.
“No really, speak your mind, Merry,” Colin growled out.
“Well, if it wasn’t you two…?” Meredith’s hands went to her hips and she gave Colin a look of expectation.
“Michael found his mate,” Colin offered back, much to Meredith’s surprise.
“That wasn’t me,” she shook her head fast as if she’d already been accused of a crime against humanity.
“A consequence of your meddling,” Colin berated her. “Harley’s sister showed up-”
“And she’s Michael’s mate,” Meredith beamed, “more pups.” She chuckled and nodded happily.
“Glad your evil plan is working out for you,” Colin snorted.
“Sour puss,” Meredith shot back. “You know, if you got to wooing her properly that’d put a smile on your face.” The woman announced before turning on her heels and stomping away.
“Witches,” Colin muttered and grimaced when his mate snorted her annoyance for him.
“Yes,” she said, “those darn witches.” The acidity of her tone made him grunt in annoyance at his slip of the tongue.
“I didn’t mean-”
“Sure you did, but present company excluded, right?” Harley shot back.
“Of course,” he was looking for a way to get his foot out of his mouth. Harley snorted once more.
“Nice try, Scooby.”
“Are you miffed that your sister mated before you?” Colin wanted to get her off of the subject at hand to give him time to remove said foot.
“Yes,” she drawled slowly, “it’s cutting me up inside.” She was deadpan in her delivery as she stared back at him.
“Sibling rivalry, a terrible thing,” he teased again and saw those little ridges forming above her nose as she frowned.
“You’d know all about that, being the runt of the litter.”
“Hardly a runt,” he sidestepped the slur.
When he motioned down his body, her eyes followed the invitation. He saw her shift her weight on her feet, saw the rose coloured tint in her cheeks, and smiled inwardly. His presence was affecting her just as much as her presence was affecting him.
“A little weedy, compared to your brothers,” she offered, more than aware that she’d fallen into his trap and trying to scurry out of it again. She snapped her eyes back up to his, but it was that victorious grin on his face that grated against her nerves.
“Ouch,” he frowned back at her. “Are you trying to get a rise out of me?” he asked, taking a step closer to her, “because you already have one.” His eyes dropped down his body once more to the bulge in his jeans- then they snapped back up again to see if she was looking where he’d led her- just in time to see
her eyes flick back to his, but it was the look of disbelief that curled her top lip that had him worried.
“You really are a one trick pony, aren’t you?” She snorted her contempt for him. “If sex is the only thing that matters to you then I’m sure you and your hand will be very happy together.”
Harley went to take a step around him, but he shifted his weight and blocked her progress. His hands came up to his chest in surrender, and he lost the smile.
“Now hang on-”
“For what? More stupid? Pass.” She took a step to the right and he countered her once more.
“Ok,” he tried to sooth her ruffled feathers with just a look, “I had no idea that you were frigid-”
“What!” She spat out, her voice shrill, and he twisted his head on his neck as his eardrums protested. “You are unbelievable…” she hissed, and a smile touched his lips, he raised his hand and pointed a finger at her, opening his mouth to speak, “and not in a good way!”
Colin’s smile dropped like a stone, and so did his hand. He cleared his throat and frowned hard.
“Ok, not frig-”
“Repeat that word and you’ll be swallowing your own damn foot,” she hissed at him.
“My bad,” he tried for a cheeky smile but the dark look in her eyes as she glared back at him, made him rethink that decision. “I was just saying-”
“Oh, pleeeaasse,” she hissed out. “Do enlighten me to your pubescent state of mind.”
Colin mulled that one over, looking like a man who was sucking on a very bitter lemon. Then his eyes flicked towards the ceiling, looking for answers and berating himself at the same time for his lack of forethought.
“Maybe we should leave this discussion for a time when you’re not suffering from PMS-”
Harley’s mouth fell open and her eyes widened. There was a small squeak that lodged in her throat as her chin dropped down towards her chest and she regarded him from under her brows… Then there was a shrill squeal and she zapped him so hard that he thought his future pups might just feel it…
Colin’s knees buckled and he dropped down onto them on the carpet. Pain gripped every inch of him right down to a cellular level. He wanted to growl like a rogue, but he just couldn’t seem to get a sound to dislodge from his throat.
CHAPTER TEN
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“Geez, Harley, talk about overkill.” Tandy said from the doorway and snapped Harley out of her anger. She yanked back on her magic and huffed out a breath, before she sidestepped Colin and headed for the door.
“That man is…” Harley hissed out, pointing an accusing finger at Colin as he collapsed onto his hands, panting hard…
“Your mate,” Tandy berated her.
“And a giant pain in the ass!” Harley spat out as she shoed Tandy out of the way and stormed out of the room. Tandy turned her attention back towards Colin; who had managed to find enough breath to growl and grunt in annoyance…
“If this is your idea of wooing then I’d hate to see repel,” Tandy offered before turning on her heels and leaving him to his pride.
Colin growled long and hard at his new sister’s words. It appeared that his mate didn’t have much of a sense of humour… he noted it and took it on board. The woman was a she-devil, but he’d tame her- he had no other damn choice.
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‘Colin, supper’s on the table, brother,’ Ross’s voice held a little amusement to it. He couldn’t blame him- he’d been through his own mating, and his mate wasn’t as disagreeable as Harley, but she wasn’t exactly a cakewalk either.
‘Good to know, thanks.’
Colin had been sitting on the hallway floor, with his back to the wall, and his eyes locked onto the closed bedroom door for the better part of the day- ever since he’d followed Harley’s scent to the room. He’d listened to her moving around inside- constant sighs and mutterings coming from her lips- and yet he hadn’t once made an effort to enter the room.
Truth be told, he was still smarting from her last attack on him. It wasn’t the pain that she’d inflected, she’d been angry, and he had to guess that her temper had gotten the better of her, it was more the fact that mate or not- they just seemed on different sides of the personality river bank with no obvious means to bridge the gap.
He’d wondered more than once if fate had made an error. Maybe he had made an error and she wasn’t really his mate.
Colin dragged himself to his feet and stepped towards the door. He lifted his hand in preparation to knock, and then decided against it- it riled him that he would have to knock on his own damn bedroom door…
“Harley, supper,” he heard the underlying growl to his voice and tried to silence it.
“I’m not hungry, thanks.” Her voice floated back to him. He took a breath and rolled his eyes.
“You have to eat,” he didn’t want her to make herself ill because she was angry with him.
“Not if I’m not hungry,” she offered back.
“I won’t even speak to you during the meal if that’s-”
The door was yanked open in front of him, taking him by surprise, he hadn’t heard her move towards it. She looked him square in the eye.
“Look, I’m trying to be civil here. I’m not hungry, please go away,” Harley had felt guilty enough as she’d sat there thinking about what she’d done to him earlier, but now he was standing there in front of her- looking all sexy and sorrowful at the same time, well, guilt was the least of her problems.
He raised his hands to his chest again, not that it had helped him much the last time her wrath had found a home.
“Ok,” he took a long step back from the door, inviting her to close it. For a long moment she didn’t move, it looked to him as if she wanted to say something. He waited… then she nodded her head and closed the door, and he sighed…
He’d really screwed this wooing his mate thing up.
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Colin had spent the night outside of his bedroom door, trying to catch a little sleep, as and when he could, while keeping on ear on his mate inside. She’d been tossing and turning for most of the night, but he also learned that she snored too. It was the only thing that brought a smile to his lips the whole damn night.
The moment that he’d heard her up and about, he took himself off, not wanting her to know that he’d been guarding the door in case she’d decided to run.
When she appeared at the kitchen door, following her nose for the scent of breakfast, he’d nodded, smiled, and motioned for her to take a seat at the table. The others eyed them as a strained silence hung in the air- Leanne and Tandy had tried to keep things light with a back and forth rendition of teasing- that was until Leanne suddenly took off on fast feet towards the bathroom and Ross followed her…
The thought of being an uncle made Colin smile. He was a Lycan through and through, and the thought of having his own mate and pups one day hadn’t been dismissed so easily, until now. From the look on Harley’s face as she picked at her food, he guessed that she wasn’t going to entertain that idea lightly.
When they’d finished eating; Harley had taken to cleaning the breakfast things up with Tandy and he half regretted and half welcomed the fact that it was a full moon that evening and he needed to help make preparations for the pack.
It had been a luna month since the werewolf attack on their people, and if the alpha of the Were’s was going to order an attack in retaliation for the dead then it would likely come that night.
People were jittery at the thought, but on the surface everyone knew what they were doing and worked accordingly.
Colin had hardly had a moment to himself all day, let alone a moment to try to woo his mate, and yet he’d set it up that way, volunteering for extra chores so that he could avoid her- giving her the time and space that she seemed to need to deal with everything that was happening.
“Go see Harley,” Benjamin growled as he slammed the back up on the tr
uck and turned towards Colin.
“Yeah…” Colin didn’t sound particularly eager to do it.
“It’s called wooing for a reason, Col.” Benjamin offered back.
“I’m good, it’s fine,” Colin lied.
“You’re not going to make headway by avoiding her,” Benjamin offered over his shoulder as he started towards the house.
Colin didn’t bother to answer his brother. He lifted a hand and ran it through his hair as he considered his brother’s words. He very much doubted that seeing her or not would help his cause any.
He dug his hands into his pockets and turned on his heels to leave when he spotted Michael coming up the path with his mate tucked against his side, a protective arm wrapped around her curvy body…
“And this is your sister’s mate, Colin,” Michael offered and Colin almost groaned aloud.
“Wow, poor you,” Ginny offered with a small giggle, “I’m guessing she’s giving you a run for your money.” There was an element of sympathy in her tone.
“Something like that,” Colin offered back.
“Well, hold your own and don’t back down. Show no fear or signs of weakness, and if all else fails, including chocolate, just wear her down.” Ginny grinned.
“Thanks for the tip,” Colin grinned. He liked the woman, she was the polar opposite of her sister, and yet he could see that they were kin- they had the same eyes. “Welcome to the pack, Ginny.” He offered with an easy smile.
His eyes caught sight of Harley as she ducked back around the side of the house. He wasn’t about to go after her- the clock was ticking down to the full moon and there were still things that needed to be done.
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“Are you leaving?” Tandy demanded at the sight of Harley with her backpack over her shoulder and the keys to Colin’s truck in her hand. She looked decidedly guilty as she turned to confront Tandy.