Why had she given in? Because she’d said the wrong thing and offended him? That was no reason to sleep with a man, damn it. He was a big boy. She moaned and scanned his body. The sheet she kept on the bed, along with the comforter was nowhere in sight. That allowed her a good view of Alec’s form. Oh yeah, he was a big boy all right. There wasn’t an inch of excess flesh on his hard body, and he was hung!
No amount of wine could erase the memory of how he’d taken her. Heck, with the number of times they’d done it the alcohol had plenty of time to wear off anyway. Still, she hadn’t drunk much, so she couldn’t blame anything but herself. Alec had given her the option of five dates. She could have turned him down and walked away. She could have kept him to his word. No, she’d let him tear her dress off in the woods and bang her brains out upside a tree.
“Goodness,” she moaned. Just thinking about it turned her on again, but no, she regretted it. They’d moved too fast, and there was no way he’d respect her sleeping with him on the second date. No way in the world! “Why, why, why?”
“Are you okay?”
She jumped at the sound of his voice but didn’t look up at him. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
Sitting up, she discovered she was sore as hell between her legs. He had worn her out, but she’d had a million orgasms, or it seemed like it. No, don’t even think about it, Whisper. This is not going to happen again.
Her sheet was across the room near the door. How the heck had it gotten that far? Great, she’d have to get up and show him her big, wide butt in the light of day. She debated just staying there and waiting for him to get up instead.
“I think we both know last night shouldn’t have happened,” he said.
She froze.
“But we’re adults, and…”
Whisper stopped listening. Now she knew he regretted what happened, too. Maybe he didn’t enjoy it as much as he seemed to last night. Or maybe he thought she was going to get all clingy. Well, he was dead wrong.
“You got what you wanted. You can go.” She stood up, ignoring her nakedness and walked across the room to the bathroom. Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them away. “You don’t have far to go, so I’m sure you can shower at your own place.”
Wow, now that sounded cold. She hoped he’d think she was one of these modern women who thought nothing of sleeping with a guy when she chose to. Her previous denials and acting like she wanted to make him wait could be considered part of the game. He didn’t have to know here she was again, having given in to the charm with no love—the one thing she wanted more than any other.
Rather than slam the door, she shut it quietly and turned on the shower. Only when she was under the spray did she let the tears fall. This time was the last she would let them go. Alec Macgregor wasn’t worth any more than that. Last night was great. Yes, she was an adult, and now it was done. She wouldn’t spare him another thought.
* * * *
Whisper didn’t want to tell Sheila what happened, but she was her only friend, the only close person in her life, and she needed to talk it out. Having an ear to listen might make her hurt feelings lessen, and then she could get on with her life. The problem was thoughts of Alec consumed her. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him behind her lids, stroking her, murmuring gentle words that would lead her to opening up to him. Even in her imagination, she felt the pull to be his. Her heart ached for his love. She just wanted to wave a magic wand and have all those emotions disappear.
“I have something to tell you,” she said to Sheila a few nights after she’d slept with Alec. She stopped, hoping Sheila would do what she usually did—just keep chatting away about her latest lover. Her friend must have sensed something because she fell silent and turned to look at Whisper.
She squinted and studied Whisper. “Something’s been up with you for the last couple of days.
“Just figuring that out?” Whisper muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing.” She took a deep breath. “I slept with Alec.”
“You did what?” Sheila shouted.
Whisper squirmed. She peered over her balcony where they were sitting and watched the people on the ground. A few had glanced up at Sheila’s voice. “Keep your voice down, will you? Damn, I don’t need the world in my business.”
Her friend wasn’t listening. From the expression on her face, she was fuming, although Whisper didn’t see why. “I can’t believe you did that. To go whoring—”
“Whoring? Excuse me? How is it whoring when I sleep with one guy, but it’s having fun when it’s you and…half a football team?”
Sheila rolled her eyes. “Now who’s exaggerating? I dated three guys on the team.”
“At the same time,” Whisper reminded her. “And if you want to call it dating…”
“Anyway.”
Her friend flopped back in her chair and put her feet up. They usually went to get their pedicures together, but Sheila had gone recently without her, not even asking Whisper if she wanted to go. That fact wouldn’t have been a big deal if Sheila hadn’t acted like she cheated on her when she’d done it once three years before. Sometimes their relationship made no sense to her, but she’d never bothered to analyze it or try to fix it.
“Anyway,” Whisper repeated. “I did. A few nights ago.”
“And?”
Sheila’s attitude lacked the support she’d been hoping for. “Never mind. It happened. It won’t again. I…I think I misjudged the kind of man he is. Or rather I judged it right and made a bad call.”
“So he wasn’t good in bed?”
Can’t she see I’m hurt, and I need my friend? Damn!
“He was great in bed,” she admitted. “Really great. Tell me about your latest.”
She didn’t have to ask twice. The anger faded from Sheila’s eyes to be replaced by amusement. Whisper didn’t have to do a thing other than make small noises like she was listening to the diatribe about how easy men were to manipulate. Apparently, she’d been absent when that training went on. They spent another half hour on the balcony until she figured out an excuse to get Sheila to leave. She just wasn’t in the mood to talk or listen to how many men begged not to be cut loose. Of course that got her to wondering what Alec thought of her in bed. Had she been bad? Was he bored?
The week dragged by, and for the first time, Whisper wished she had overtime. Then she could bury herself under endless reports. School wasn’t due to start yet, so that couldn’t occupy her thoughts. She considered going to the library and then decided to get with the twenty-first century. She’d been thinking about buying a Kindle for a while. Now might be a good time.
Forty-five minutes later, she sat in the parking lot outside of her building fiddling with the electronic reader. The instructions indicated she needed to charge the device, but she’d gotten it to come on. Of course now she’d have to figure out how to buy books for it, but that might mean having an Internet connection.
“Ugh, complications.”
Movement from the corner of her eye made her look up, and she spotted Alec strolling from the building. Her heartbeat kicked into high gear, and a sense of longing enveloped her. Whisper pinched her lips together and tried tamping the emotions down. At least she was parked in a shaded area on the other side of a van. Maybe he wouldn’t see her before he reached his car, and she wouldn’t have to face him. She felt like a coward for deciding to delay getting out of the car, but so what. No one knew except her.
She crouched a little lower and set her Kindle in the passenger seat. Alec reached the curb, and she worried he’d tumble over the edge if he didn’t stop fiddling with his cell phone. As if he sensed its position, he stepped down without looking up.
While she watched, she noted the ripple in his thigh muscle, contracting to help him take each step. His jeans hugged his hips with perfection and outlined his crotch enough to make her mouth water. He’d paired the pants with a T-shirt that had been imprinted with a skull and feathers. She wondered if it meant anything. For some
reason, it didn’t appear to be the type of thing he would wear, but she didn’t know him that well.
Probably why I shouldn’t have slept with him, too.
He frowned and glanced up from his phone. Whisper realized she’d heard someone call his name. She stiffened when Sheila sashayed over. Whisper swore under her breath. Her friend had never been over this side of town so often.
Sheila stopped in front of Alec and laid a hand in the middle of his chest. She flipped her hair back and grinned at him while chatting. Alec had gone still, the look in his eyes fit to freeze hell. If Whisper had thought something was between them before, she stood corrected. No one could mistake the dislike Alec was exuding at that moment. Well, except for Sheila.
What pissed Whisper off though was that her supposed friend was still going after him. She couldn’t shut the hell up for five seconds to let Whisper talk about what happened between her and Alec, and then she went behind Whisper’s back and tried to get him—again!
How many times had it happened in the past? Sheila would claim she was just talking to the guys that were interested in Whisper, but she’d always been clingy with them. No man was off limits when it came to what Sheila Tate wanted, and that included Whisper’s boyfriends. What the hell had she been thinking all these years to not recognize it for what it was and call Sheila on it?
Enough was enough. Whisper might not be dating Alec, but she’d made it clear they had at least something going on that she was trying to work through. Sheila should have respected that, but why would she? She never had before, and she wouldn’t in the future.
No longer worried about avoiding Alec, she threw the car door open and stepped out. Alec was the first to notice her approach, but she didn’t focus on him. She glared at Sheila, who was still too self-centered to stop talking.
“Sheila,” Whisper called out when she was close enough.
The bitch turned and never once lost her game as her ass brushed Alec’s thigh, and her fingers trailed his bicep. “Oh, hey, Whisper.”
“Oh, hey?” Whisper echoed. “Are you for real?”
Sheila blinked at her. That was too much. Whisper stomped up to her and spared Alec a glance when she grabbed Sheila’s arm.
“Excuse us. We need to talk.” She all but dragged Sheila into the building and shut the door behind them. Her anger wouldn’t allow her to wait until they reached her apartment for privacy. Hell, she didn’t want Sheila in her place ever again. Whisper held out her hand. “Give me my key.”
Still the woman was playing the innocent act. “What’s wrong with you, girl? I was just talking to Alec. Why are you acting all threatened and everything? It’s not like he’s your boyfriend or that y’all have anything serious going on.”
The crack across Sheila’s cheek took Whisper by surprise even though she’d done it. “You have three seconds to give me the key to my place before I snatch your weave off. Five before I put you on the floor. Now I don’t fight, but I guarantee you, I will win if we get into one today.”
If Sheila’s skin tone wasn’t so brown, Whisper would have sworn the blood drained from her face. She dug into her purse and pulled out her set of keys. For a few minutes, she fumbled trying to get the key off the ring, and Whisper didn’t bother offering to help.
“I’ve had it with you,” she said instead. “You’re the worst friend a woman could ever have. You think you’re slick coming on to every man that has ever showed any interest in me. No. Every man period. You don’t respect yourself. You sure don’t respect me. You’re selfish and only care about what you want and need. Well I’m done. You stay away from me. Don’t even come within my air space, or I promise I will forget the kind of person I am and kick your ass all the way back to your place.”
Sheila dropped the key in her palm. “You know jealousy—”
“Jealousy?” Whisper shouted and took a step forward.
Her ex-friend bolted for the door, flung it open, and almost ran down the walk to the street. A few seconds later, her little sports car started up—one that she’d gotten as a present from the football player she’d done—and peeled out of the parking lot. Whisper watched her go with regret and relief. Alec hadn’t left yet. He seemed about to head her way with concern on his face, but she pivoted and darted up the stairs. She didn’t want to face him. Hopefully, he didn’t hear the argument. All she wanted to do now was take a pill to knock herself out and forget the world for a few hours.
Chapter Eight
“Why are you so grouchy lately?”
Alec pretended not to hear the question. He knew he’d been a hare trigger away from flying off the handle all week, but he wasn’t discussing it with Max no matter how much his brother antagonized him. Max could read him like a book and vice versa, but he wasn’t sharing his feelings if that was the man’s aim. All that would get him is more of Max’s stupid theory about Whisper being his mate. Bah! He didn’t believe that ancient destiny stuff anyway. Sure, he could believe that Sarah was meant for Max, but then so could a lot of women have been—ones that were sweet-natured and who thought Max hung the moon. Of course he would fall in love. Well Alec Macgregor was not some romantic character who would fall prey to that type of stuff. He could use it to hook a woman into giving him what they both wanted, but he didn’t buy into the myth anymore than the next logical man. Whisper Price was just another beautiful woman. Sure, he would have liked to have her in his bed a while longer, but it didn’t matter. Someone else would take her place soon enough.
As soon as I bother going out to meet a new one.
He had been lying at the apartment, barking at every sound Max made and refusing to close on his new house. There was no reason why he was still here, none why she should still occupy his thoughts at every waking moment. Hell, every sleeping moment, too. Why? She was…
She is excellent in bed. Sensual, beautiful, innocent, and experienced all rolled into one. I want to touch her and kiss her. I want to taste her sweetness and hear her cries of ecstasy.
He could dismiss it as just a strong physical attraction if it ended there, but he missed her laughter, too. He had considered telling her about his book and getting her opinion of it. That was crazy in itself. When he realized she’d argued with her friend and thought it might have something to do with him, he was going to talk to her and assure her he had no interest in Sheila. Whisper had run from him, and he hated acknowledging even to himself that it hurt.
“I’m not grouchy,” he shouted, taking Max by surprise since he’d waited so long to answer.
“Okay, I’m convinced.”
The obvious sarcasm made him scowl at his brother. “Just leave me alone. I’m having a bad week. It happens.”
His brother shrugged. “Sure, to men who deny themselves their mate.”
“Don’t start, Max.”
“Just saying.”
Alec surged to his feet and headed toward the balcony. The apartment felt too small. They weren’t used to such enclosed spaces. All of his family enjoyed large houses and acres of land around it for running in their animal form. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking moving here. The sooner he relocated the better. He’d intended to allow Max to stay at his house as long as his brother needed him, but Max seemed a lot livelier. He’s finding new enjoyment in life by tormenting me. Maybe he would suggest his brother start looking for his own house if he intended to stay in the area.
At the balcony door, he turned, “Whether you believe she’s my mate or not, I’m not going to see her again. In the end, we can choose whom we want to be with, and I choose to continue the way I always have. If you don’t like that, well, that’s your problem.”
Max made no more comments, and for that Alec was grateful. Even as he said the words, he didn’t wholly believe them. Whisper occupied his thoughts more than he liked. He tried shutting her out and not bringing that sweet face to mind, but it remained impossible. Maybe if he got out of here after the sun went down, he could run in his leopard form until exhaustion
took hold. Then when he hit his bed, he’d sleep and not dream of her. One could only hope.
Waiting through the rest of the day proved to be torture itself. Alec spent a few hours on his book, but everything he put on paper sounded hollow and unemotional. He felt like he lost his creativity, which frustrated him all the more. The night couldn’t come soon enough, and with it an overcast sky. He didn’t care. Running wouldn’t take thinking. He could give in to his instincts, hunt a little, and forget about her even if for a short while.
Rather than take his car, Alec walked to the wooded area where he would take his run. When the trees hid him from public view, he removed his clothes and left them where they wouldn’t be found. Then he shifted and took to all fours, pounding the ground beneath his paws. A growl rose up in his throat and instead of suppressing it like he would have around humans, he let it build and explode from his lungs in a full on roar. The burden of staying hidden and controlling his animal nature began to lift. He ran faster, his muscles burning, breath coming in heavy pants.
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