Sassy Ever After: Kissing Sassy (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Gracen Miller

  “I’d have taken that seriously,” he said as he wrapped rope around her assailant’s hands and feet.

  Who the hell keeps rope in their truck? “I’m so tempted to use this on you.” Narrowing her eyes, she jiggled the Taser to indicate what she wanted to use on him. “Why would Barbara send me to a shifter bar for help with a human stalker?”

  “I’m not a mind reader.”

  “Cajun, what the hell is going—Olivia?”

  “Thank god!” Olivia dismissed the downed wolf, crashed into Jake Wolfe, and hugged him. Barbara’s son in the flesh. Finally, someone who would take her seriously.

  He gave her a hearty squeeze, but she could sense his confusion. “Didn’t know you were coming into town. Is there something wrong, sweetie?”

  THREE

  Cajun

  Cajun caught his nape with the back of his hand and kneaded his skin, while Olivia gave Jake the lowdown. Having his cousin’s hands on her unsettled his wolf. Walking out that door and catching her engaged in an ongoing assault had infuriated him, and for a brief moment his wolf had gone crazy. He’d barely reined in his fury and managed not to tear the male she’d Tased to pieces. Ripping apart an unconscious predator wasn’t sporting, but he’d attacked Olivia, and Cajun’s wolf wanted blood.

  Speaking of the male she’d zapped… He peered at the man sprawled in the gravel. Every so often, he twitched and groaned. Cajun didn’t recognize the other wolf, but he’d only been living in Blue Creek about a year. Unless the guy came into Wolfe Ink—his tattoo shop that catered mostly to shifters—he wouldn’t know him because he was still getting to know the locals.

  The moment Jake’s stony gaze hit him, Cajun knew he was in for an ass chewing. He’d take it from Aunt Barbara, or even her son Aric because he’d be alpha one day, but he wouldn’t tolerate a set down from Jake.

  “I got this, Jake.” He held up his cell phone. “Received Aunt B’s text after she stormed off with her panties in a wad.”

  Olivia’s cheeks went pink, and her mouth worked open and shut. “You’re an ass. That was my third attack. I barely made it out of the second. Got teeth marks to prove it.”

  “That was a joke, princess.”

  “You’re not funny.” Her hands shook. Olivia Scott seemed put-together, and she’d hid her anxiety well before now. Even so, he liked the fire in her. Brassy and sassy girls had always intrigued him, been a weakness all his life, probably because the chase was so much fun which appealed to his wolf.

  “Where’d he bite you?”

  Olivia turned her back to him and elevated her hair. Across the back of her neck, scabbed over bite marks outlined in angry red proved her story. His beast howled inside his head. The other shifter had attempted to mate her. It was custom to mate during sex, but he’d known a girl in the bayou who’d been forcibly mated without sex. The crime was so heinous to their kind, a group of them had gotten together and hunted the bastard down and torn him to pieces.

  “If it hadn’t been for my bodyguard and the police, I wouldn’t have gotten away either time.”

  If it hadn’t been for them, she’d have been mated by force. Claws burst free of his fingertips, and he warred not to shift.

  “Cajun.” Jake’s harsh warning jerked him out of his mindless rage. Cajun had been so close to losing it once more that he bet his beast had been showing in his eyes.

  “I’m good.” He wasn’t, but he would find a way to be good for her. “Did you see a doctor for that?”

  “No.” She dropped her hair and faced him again. “The press would’ve been all over it.”

  “It needs cleaning. Looks like it’s trying to get infected.”

  She gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I did the best I could.”

  Where was her family? Didn’t she have someone who cared about her other than Aunt Barbara and Jake? Someone who’d help out and keep their mouth shut?

  “Am I going to become a werewolf?”

  The question came out of nowhere, surprising him, and he couldn’t decide if she was serious and playing to Hollywood fears or just being a pretentious bitch.

  “That’s racist.” He’d never heard anything so ridiculous.

  “He attacked me, ripped most of my clothes off, and bit me!” Cajun would’ve thought ripping her clothes off the highlight of the trauma, but apparently being bitten won out. “I’m entitled to some racism.”

  “We’re shifters who happen to be wolves. Big difference. Werewolves only happen in Hollywood.”

  She shrugged, and he suspected she already knew the distinction, but if that were the case then her question made little sense. “Okay, but you didn’t answer my question. Are you stalling so I won’t freak out? Because changing into a wolf every full moon doesn’t work with my schedule.”

  Jake chuckled. “No, sweetie, you won’t turn into a werewolf. Cajun, why don’t I get Olivia to mom’s and—”

  “She stays with me.”

  “What?” Olivia practically shrieked. “No way, Benji.”

  “Not up for discussion.” He glared at Jake, while ignoring her denial. “She’s mine…” By admitting his claim on her, no shifter in the Wolfe pack would oppose his position. “To protect.” He tacked on the last so she wouldn’t squawk about his possessive wording, but the fire in her eyes told him it came several seconds too late.

  “No way, uh uh, I’m not going anywhere with you.” She jabbed him in the chest again, and he caught her wrist and ran his thumb along the erratic pulse point. Her breath hitched, and they traded glares. Jake’s scrutiny felt like papa bear’s judgment, but he didn’t require his cousin’s permission or approval to protect his mate. “Earlier, you were cavalier about my endangerment. You don’t get to just change your mind now.”

  “I’m sorry.” His apology shut her up. “Women like danger, and they see the paranormal community as easy excitement. I couldn’t know you weren’t seeking intrigue.”

  A huff implied she didn’t buy his reasoning. “I thought shifters could detect lies.”

  “They can.”

  Cajun glared at his cousin for confirming her speculation. “I did mention I thought a human was after you. At no time did you mention a shifter stalker. Given that assumption, I pegged you as a thrill seeker.”

  “I hate thrill seeking.”

  “You could’ve been researching your next movie.”

  Olivia inclined her head, at least admitting she researched her roles. Her gaze lowered to where he held her wrist and was caressing her pulse in a swishy motion. Her breath hitched, and her cheeks flushed, not in anger this time, but desire. It was her scent that had his inner canine grunting in satisfaction.

  Jake sniffed the air, and Cajun knew he detected her arousal. A twisted grin hit his relative’s lips. “Good luck, cousin.”

  “You’re cousins?” Olivia blinked between them, as if she couldn’t spot any similarities.

  “Yeah. My dad and Jake’s dad are brothers. I didn’t officially introduce myself. I’m Cajun Wolfe.” Instead of offering his hand to shake, he slid his other thumb along her jaw.

  “Good luck with what, Jake?” Giving her bottom lip a nervous tongue-swipe, she tugged her wrist free of Cajun’s grasp and stepped out of his personal space.

  “Aunt Barbara sent you here for me to help you. Jake’s saying good luck to helping you.”

  Jake snorted. “We’ll work together on this. I’ll take him,” he nudged the Tased wolf with a toe, “with me to question, and I’ll call in a clean-up crew for his dead buddy.”

  “I don’t know.” She walked over to her Mercedes and tossed the Taser on the passenger seat. “Still not convinced I can trust you.”

  “Christ, you’re stubborn.”

  “Didn’t get to where I am by letting men walk all over me.”

  Shit. He’d screwed everything up earlier when he ridiculed her request for help. But damned if he didn’t want to kiss her for her sass. “Princess, I swear I’ll find who’s after you.”

  “I kn
ow who it is. Jessie Barber. He’s the alpha of Silverstar wolf pack in Los Angeles.” Olivia shut the car door and leaned against it.

  Cajun loved that she was covered in dirt but made no effort to clean herself up. He’d have expected more vanity from a superstar.

  “He was a consultant on the movie we just wrapped up. He seemed nice enough. Too bad I didn’t realize he was a lunatic sooner. Kristoff, my bodyguard, ran him off with a bullet to his hip the first time. A couple of days later he sent a video threating to kill Kristoff’s mother if he didn’t walk away from me. So he quit.”

  Spineless jerk-off walking away from her over a puny threat. The bodyguard had to be a human because no shifter would tuck tail and run. Predicting she’d make him eat his balls if he said what he was thinking, he kept the thoughts to himself.

  “Kristoff told me I wasn’t worth his mother dying. I don’t disagree, but I wasn’t prepared for being left alone to defend against this monster.” She shook her head and glanced away from them. “Three days ago when Jessie bit me, he broke into my house and set off the alarm. The police showed up, and he ran off, promising he wouldn’t be run off a third time.”

  “I vouch for him, Olivia. If you’re on Jessie’s radar, Cajun is the one you want guarding your ass.” Jake nudged the Tased wolf with the toe of his tennis shoe once more. No reaction. “Take her to mom’s, let her settle down a bit, and then you can work out the arrangements from there. I’ll meet you there once we’ve questioned him.”

  Cajun wanted to object. Her place was with him, but he understood her uneasiness toward him. “All right. Come on, princess.”

  “I’ll follow you in my Mercedes.”

  “No,” Jake spoke up without hesitation. “Did you tell anyone you were coming to Blue Creek?” At Olivia’s head-shake, he said, “Chances are it’s got a tracker on it and Jessie’s had men tailing you the whole way here. Let me sweep it for bugs, and I’ll drive it over to mom’s.”

  She blanched, and Cajun asked, “Are you okay?”

  “No, but I will be.” Olivia grabbed her purse, an oversized, hideous thing that could’ve carried half a house in it. She dug her keys out and tossed them to Jake. “Blaming you, Jake, if anything bad happens between here and Barbara’s.”

  FOUR

  Olivia

  Trepidation slammed into her as Cajun took her Louis Vuitton leather overnight bag and her Hermes Matte Crocodile Birkin purse from her grasp. Somehow he managed to come across sexier with the purse thrown over his shoulder than before when he’d been acting feral. She grinned as they walked beside each other to his truck.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “You’re smiling, and I sense I’m the butt of some joke only you’re privy to.”

  “I wouldn’t say the rouge-colored purse is in your wheel-house.”

  “You’re wrong. It’s definitely my color.” He flashed her a wide-tooth smile and attempted a horrible sashay like a runway model.

  Olivia laughed at his silliness, adoring that he didn’t take himself too seriously. That wasn’t the normal behavior in Hollywood. Everyone was so serious in the business, all of them out for self, with no loyalty. The Wolfe family felt like the only kin she had, but they weren’t blood, and she trusted them only so far.

  Sighing, she tossed a glance at Stinky. Jake stood over him, talking into his cell phone. She liked the Wolfes, and she shouldn’t have troubled them with her problem, but she’d had no one else to turn to. They’d been the only people she thought might have an answer to her stalker problem.

  She went to chew on the inside of her cheek, but winced at the raw flesh. Rubbing her cheek, she was thankful her healing time was quick, except for where the wolf had bit her. Since his species was her one weakness, it’d take a little while for it to heal properly.

  “We’ll get some ice on those cheeks when we get to Aunt Barbara’s.”

  “I’ll survive.” A little self-conscious, she lowered her hand. “The bite on my neck is worse. Hurts worse too. He said he wanted me, so it doesn’t make sense why he bit me.”

  Cajun opened the passenger door and waited until she’d slid into the seat to respond. “He attempted to force you into a mating with him.”

  Olivia gasped. “Shifters force others to do that?”

  “Not the good ones.”

  Head spinning and stomach souring over this new information, she waited while Cajun settled her bags in the back seat. Once he was buckled into the driver’s seat, they hit the road.

  “Is Cajun your real name?”

  “Nah… it’s a nickname. I grew up in the bayou of Louisiana. I don’t much like my real name.”

  Olivia waited for him to share his real name, but when he made no effort to reveal it, she left it alone, deciding to change the subject. “So, about Jessie.” She fiddled with her fingers resting in her lap. “Why’d Jake say you’re the best one to help me?”

  “I’m guessing because I was Special Forces.”

  That got her attention, and her gaze whiplashed to him. She hadn’t gotten a military vibe from him, but then again, he was the first paranormal she knew to have served. Not that she knew that many supernaturals. She was a loner and kept a wide berth from most paranormals, the Wolfe family being the only exception.

  With his focus on the road and his face in profile, she realized he’d put on a T-shirt at some point. He gripped the steering wheel with one hand, and the other rested on his thigh.

  “That’s why you’re so cut.”

  At her comment, he sent a rapid peek in her direction before turning back to the road and executing a right turn. “Good genetics mostly.”

  Olivia fingered her cheek; already the soreness eased thanks to her fast healing. “Most guys in the industry that have six-pack-abs aren’t as defined as yours or they’re painted on for a movie.”

  “Is that a compliment?”

  “Are you angling for one?”

  They pulled up to a house, and he parked his truck. “Wait a minute.” He caught her arm, nabbing her full attention, only releasing her once she lowered her hand from the door handle. “I really am sorry about earlier. You caught me off guard, but that’s not an excuse for my behavior.”

  “How’d I catch you off guard?”

  From the corner of her eye she noticed Barbara step onto the front porch and wave at them. The older woman’s smile was warm and affectionate. Just seeing her made Olivia feel like she’d come home. What was it about Barbara Wolfe that made her so happy?

  Cajun snagged her focus once more when his thumb slid along her jaw. “We’ll talk later. Aunt B won’t wait.” He hopped out of the truck and opened Olivia’s door before she could.

  When he offered her his hand to help her exit the truck, she asked, “Playing gentleman for your family?”

  “I deserved that jab.” Once he had her on her feet, he trapped her against the side of the truck, and leaned into her personal space. “I’m not thinking gentlemanly thoughts about you.”

  Breath picking up speed, Olivia held his gaze and watched the glow hit his gray eyes. Her focus lowered to his lips. Why’d she want them on her so bad? Why was she attracted to this wolf at all? He wasn’t her type. Too growly, too manly, too sensual, too self-confident, and way too hot. Even his stare promised epic orgasms. Was he her siren song, the same as a mate in his world? She hoped not since he was her weakness, and she had no desire to lose all her magic.

  Stomach in knots and needing some air, Olivia bolted, fast-walking toward Barbara, but she could feel the wolf prowling behind her. Stalked her like prey… or like he would his mate. Why couldn’t she find his behavior sleazy like she did Jessie’s?

  She all but tackled the other woman in a bear hug. It’d been a year since she’d last seen Barbara, but they kept in touch. Olivia had lost her mother young, and over the years of their association, Barbara had become her surrogate parent. She knew they shared an unusual relationship. There was no reason for this family to em
brace her with their friendship the way they had, but she was thankful for all of them.

  They’d met on the ranch she owned in Montana when the Wolfe’s accidentally trespassed onto her property several years back. A week later, she’d felt like one of the family even if she couldn’t shift. After that, they visited as a family or sometimes the brothers came together for a ‘hunting’ trip, bonding time as she dubbed it. Most single women might’ve misinterpreted their trips, but Olivia knew they each had mates, and she felt only a sisterly affection toward them.

  She trusted them only so far though. Too many sorceri wanted her dead, so she kept her species from everyone, even the Wolfes.

  The Wolfe matriarch patted her back. “The moment you called, I knew Cajun would agree to help you.”

  Weird how Barbara’s simple back rub soothed her anxiety and had her wanting to cry at the same time. Olivia guessed one of the many reasons Barbara was such a good mom was because she knew how to calm people down.

  Deciding not to confess her rocky start with Cajun because they had enough drama to deal with, she said instead, “I’m scared, Barbara, real scared.”

  “We’ll figure this out and keep you safe, dear.”

  “Her wolf stalker bit her.” Cajun surprised her with his nearness, and Barbara’s eyes narrowed a fraction, her anger clear. “Can I borrow your first aid kit?” His palm settled against Olivia’s lower back, his touch serving as a conduit for her arousal.

  “Of course.” Barbara shooed them inside.

  “If you don’t mind, Aunt B, I’d rather wait to hear what Jake learns so we get the entire story from the start. No point in Olivia reliving everything but once. Sit, please.” Cajun indicated a chair once they reached the kitchen.

  Too keyed up by her unexpected horniness, Olivia didn’t question his authority, and just sank into the nearest seat. Silence descended in the room. She could feel him at her back as Barbara peered between them, with sneaky delight crinkling the corners of her eyes.

  Barbara poured two glasses full of lemonade and set them on the table. “First aid kit is where it always is, Cajun.”