by Marie Harte
Tears welled though she tried to blink them away. “I trusted him.”
“And he trusts me. If there’s a legal loophole in this town, I know about it. If there’s anything I can dig out of the council members, I’ll find it. Come on, Julia. We’re friends. You know I’d never betray you. And you have to know Ty won’t either.”
Rationally, she agreed with him. But it chafed her Ty hadn’t thought to ask her permission before sharing family secrets.
“So did you really propose to Ty?”
She leaned her head back on the couch and counted to ten. “No. I did not propose to Ty. The fox accepted an offer I never made, and somehow I’m wearing his scent.”
“Somehow?” Gerald murmured.
She blushed and snapped back, “I know how it happened. I just mean I hadn’t thought it would be anything more than, uh, something physical.”
“Bullshit.”
She blinked at Gerald and sat up straight. “What?”
“Honey, I’ve watched you two dance around each other for years. Whenever he’d come into the office, you avoided his gaze. But you’d watch him all the same. Not like anyone else who ever approached you. You gave them all the cold shoulder. Ty was different.”
“Come on, Gerald.”
“You know it’s true. You care for him, don’t you?”
“I guess.”
He scoffed. “You’d better get a little closer than I guess. That man will rip my head off for looking at you the wrong way, and Ty’s as close as a brother to me. Your problems are now his. And he’ll do everything he can to see that you’re happy.” He paused. “You’re happy at the office, right? You are going to come back to work with me eventually, aren’t you?”
She grinned. “Yes, Gerald. I like my job. I’m not so sure about my future in town, though. My sisters and I have kept our parentage secret for a long time, but I’m not sure how much longer we can hide from the truth.” She looked into Gerald’s light brown eyes, seeing the friend who’d been there to encourage her through years of loneliness and hard times with her aunt and uncle.
Next to Sarah and her sisters, Gerald really was her best friend.
“What’s that look?”
“You know me better than my new mate does.” She sighed. “This relationship is doomed, isn’t it? My problems are Ty’s now. He could lose his job, lose his place in town and be kicked out.” Real worry made her tremble.
Gerald frowned. “And Ty said Meghan was the drama queen. Julia, this isn’t the end of the world. So your dad was a cat. You could always settle in with the Catamount Pride. Burke’s a pain in the ass, but I consider him a good friend.” He winked at her. “And his mate’s beyond lovely. Dean and Grady might give you fits, but they all take care of each other.”
Dean and Grady, Burke’s brothers, lived to plague him with practical jokes. She’d even participated a time or two.
Gerald continued. “The pride’s an option. You know they already have two bears and a wolf living with them. But you also need to consider the simpler option—staying with the silver foxes. You don’t realize it, but your aunt and uncle are in the minority on the council. Most of us don’t care so much about social standing and breeding lines. We just want good families and strong, healthy and happy kits.”
“That’s all I want.” She bit her lip, needing to confide in someone. What Gabby had said earlier had merit, even if Julia hadn’t wanted to admit it. “But, Gerald, what if my kits aren’t kits, but cats?”
He frowned. “What?”
“My mom was fox, my dad a cat. I have both of them in me, though I’ve only ever turned fox. But Gabby, she can be either.”
His eyes widened. “Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m not. Aunt Lynn told me what kind of a hell we’d be living in if that came to light. They’d kick us out for sure.” Hell, she’d been raised on the mantra that different equaled bad. Assimilate, be good, blend in. Was it any wonder she liked the law? A place where rules were clearly defined appealed to her need for structure and fairness.
Gerald closed his mouth around a swear. “Your aunt is a real piece of work. Julia, the ability to take multiple forms is a blessing, not a curse. Only a purist like Lynn Easton would consider Gabby anything less than a miracle.”
“But you know she’s not the only one. Say what you want about youth in the clan, but the silver foxes are led by the oldest and most powerful. They all measure standing by hereditary lines, not shifting abilities.”
He exhaled on a loud breath. “Maybe so, but the fact remains, a lot of us don’t subscribe to the petty plays for power and politicking in the clan. I have too much going on with the law firm. Ty’s busy being sheriff. I could name fifty other foxes just wanting to get by day to day without tripping over another Silver Fox ordinance. I could care less about your uncle’s motion to push arranged marriages, because I’m not going to do it. Neither are most of the single males and females I’ve talked to. I figure we just need to wait out some of our older members before we establish new policies for our kind.”
She shook her head, recognizing the look of a fox planning mischief.
“Before I get ahead of myself, I want to know if you plan on leaving me again anytime soon.” Gerald looked so put out she had to laugh. “It’s not funny. Billie Stamford types maybe ten words a minute. The raptor is ancient and thinks she knows what’s best for me.” He shuddered. “She keeps trying to pair me with her granddaughter. Now I don’t care if she’s a fox, eagle or bear, but Susie Stamford is as dumb as a rock.”
“Ouch. You’ve been using Billie as my replacement?”
He glared at her. “Yeah. Nell and Jennifer were busy. Thanks a lot. You were supposed to return days ago and didn’t. No word, nothing. Billie was the best I could get.”
“I’m sorry. But if Ty explained the situation, you know I was only trying to help Meghan.”
He nodded. “I know. But stop leaving. Between Ty and myself, we’ll work the council into allowing Meghan to date and eventually marry this outsider, if you think it’ll come to that.”
“Work the council? Don’t you mean, trick the council?”
“Your word, not mine.” Gerald’s eyes glinted with mischief. “Now let’s talk about what’s really bothering you.”
“Nothing’s bothering me.” Except that the whole time we’ve been talking, I keep thinking about Ty.
“Julia, I know you. Go ahead. Ask me anything you want to know about him. I won’t tell, I promise. Trust me, I have no intention of pissing off the only woman who can read my handwriting, run the office and make a decent pot of coffee.”
She sighed. Might as well. “Should I believe him when he says he likes me?” When he says he’ll be loyal? That those other women meant nothing to him?
“Ty doesn’t lie. Okay, he does; he’s a fox. But not about what’s important to him. Julia, I’d trust him with my life, my law practice and my mate, should I ever be lucky enough to find one. He’s a genuinely decent man, someone this town needs more than it knows.”
“But what if being with me drags him down?”
He shook his head. “Not a chance. You have no idea how important you are to him. Oh, he would never admit it, but for years when I teased him about you, he’d get that look in his eye. He had a way of asking about you without asking about you. Inquiring about things he knew you’d been a part of just so I’d tell him what you were doing without it looking like he asked about you.”
“I’m not sure what you just said.”
Gerald scoffed. “As if I couldn’t see right through him. You’re one of the few women who wouldn’t give him any attention, and the only one who mattered.”
“But he’s dated so many women.”
“So have I. But I’ve never cheated on any of them, and neither has Ty. He’s got a strict code about integrity. He doesn’t just lead, he leads by example. And he’s way into you, Julia.”
“I don’t know.” She wanted badly to believe. It would be so nice to trust,
to rely on someone else for a change instead of always having to take care of everyone herself. Her aunt and uncle might as well have been the enemy. When push came to shove, she knew they’d throw her and her sisters out the door to save their own skin.
“You want proof? Wait until he comes home. I’ll show you.”
She didn’t understand what he meant and frankly didn’t want to know. They talked about a recent case Gerald had picked up and about how badly Billie ran the office.
When Ty returned several hours later, Julia had nearly dozed off next to Gerald.
Gerald poked her in the arm to get her attention. “Okay, watch this.”
“What—?”
Gerald grabbed her hand and leaned closer. “I’m telling you, Julia. You’re the one for me. Ty will never know if we—”
Ty cut him off by throwing him against a wall. Ty snarled and would have rammed his fist into Gerald’s face had Gerald not twisted out of his grasp. The attorney raced to Julia, dragged her to her feet and held her in front of him like a shield.
“Let her go and fight me, you prick,” Ty growled, moving forward with a diamond-bright glare.
“Hell, no. You’ll kill me.” Gerald laughed, breathless. “I told you. He’s got it bad.”
Julia wanted to punch Gerald herself. “You’re crazy, you know that? Ty, he’s kidding.”
Ty advanced and tried to go through Julia. “I’ll bet he was.”
Good Lord, but he was incredible. His dark hair framed a harsh face filled with menace. He clenched his fists and his forearms stood out in stark relief, the muscles on his lean frame making her breathless.
“And that’s my cue,” Gerald murmured and took off.
The door closed behind him, but only Julia’s hands kept Ty from charging after him.
“Relax.” She stroked Ty’s chest, remembering how he’d looked without his shirt. The feel of his power addicted, aroused and made her yearn. She buried her nose in his throat. “You smell so good.”
Ty kissed the top of her head and hugged her. “I can kill him later.” He tugged her closer, and she felt his erection pressing her belly. “I’d rather play with you now.”
He kissed her and the time for talk faded. Worry, fear and anger disappeared as passion filled her with an emotion she didn’t want to but couldn’t help feel—love for the man who’d claimed her. Maybe it was time to claim him right back.
Chapter Eight
Ty didn’t know what the hell he’d walked into, but Julia still smelled like Julia. Gerald hadn’t tried anything more serious than holding her hand. Ty would pummel his best friend tomorrow. Right now, he couldn’t get over how good his woman felt in his arms. The slender fox, so sleek and pretty, stirred his desire like no other. He had to force himself to slow down, to savor her.
“I want you so much,” he said thickly. “In a bed this time.”
She nodded shyly, her golden eyes shining with lust and a deeper emotion he wanted desperately to believe. He’d been rough and possessive, but now he wanted to be gentle. To show his vixen he could care for her, soothe her with—
“Fuck.”
With deft fingers she unfastened his pants, and her hand curled around his cock, hot flesh to hot flesh.
He groaned, aching. “I want to last.”
“Later,” she breathed.
To his shock, she sank to her knees before him and peeled down his clothing. His jeans sagged at his thighs, but his cock remained ramrod stiff, trembling under her hot breath.
“Julia,” he said on a groan, and watched as she slowly opened her mouth around the head of his shaft.
So erotic. Better than any fantasy he could imagine. His mate on her knees, pleasuring him. He threaded his fingers in her dark red hair and rubbed circles over her scalp, careful to be gentle when his body urged him to grip her tight and fuck that mouth with punishing thrusts.
“So good,” he rasped as she licked and sucked, laving the underside of his crown with a tongue that felt like silk. “Julia, I’m going to come if you keep this up.”
She answered by cupping his sac and taking more of him in her mouth. He wasn’t that far in, but she worked the most sensitive part of his cock. Her nimble hands rubbed his thighs, his balls, and teased his ass. The contrast of her soft hands and his hard body aroused him, increasing his urge to protect, to claim.
He wanted to spill inside her sex, to flood her womb with come. But he’d never last. Already the surge of ecstasy built at the base of his spine, traveled up his balls and spread through the rest of his body.
He tightened his hold on her head, keeping her still as he pushed short, firm jerks between her ripe lips.
“I’m coming. Baby, swallow me.”
She moaned and sucked harder, rubbing his balls with firm hands.
He glanced down to see her nipples pressing against her shirt. Dark red hair framed her face and his cock. Her scent intensified and her tongue whipped him into a frenzy he could no longer hold back.
He jetted down her throat with a hoarse shout of her name.
Ty finally ceased, weakened on trembling legs. She let him fall from her mouth and pulled up his pants. She fastened them and smoothed her hands down his front.
“Better now?” The sly look in her eyes warned him to tread warily.
“Almost.” Shit.
Her eyes creased with a smile.
“So, you think you can control me with sex,” he said softly.
“Think? I know I can control you with sex.” She placed her hands on her hips, her tone light. Flirty?
He grinned, loving this side of her. “Okay, so I’m easy. But, baby, I give as good as I get.” He took her in his arms before she could run and carried her into his bedroom.
“You’re a neat freak too.”
“What can I say? I have control issues. Like someone else I know.”
She smiled at him and twined her arms around his neck. Their lips pressed together as he lowered her to his bed. The kiss turned from exploratory to carnal. Much as he tried to slow things down, Julia wouldn’t let him. A real firecracker in bed. His woman.
He stripped her clothes off and removed his.
Looking down at her with just the setting sun over her body, Ty fell deeper under her spell. “I’ve never seen a more beautiful picture in all my life,” he whispered with reverence.
He traced a finger over her neck, down her throat to her delicate collarbone. The milky white mounds of her breasts ended in rosy tips tight with arousal. He lowered to take one nipple in his mouth, sucking before biting with a gentle sting.
She moaned and arched into him, stroking his hair with possession.
Ty turned to her other breast and laved her flesh while he plumped her sleek curves with large hands. He looked darker against her unblemished skin, so male against her feminine loveliness.
“Ty, take me.” Julia squirmed under him, caging his hips with her strong legs.
But he refused to be pushed. He lingered over her breasts, tasting and playing. He nipped her when she tried to pull him to her and laughed at her frustration.
“Oh no. I’m not stopping until I get a taste of that sweet cream you’re hiding.”
She writhed, rubbing against his swelling dick.
“You are so sexy. I bet you taste like honey.” He kissed down her belly, each hip, and bypassed her shaved mound to the inside of her thighs.
Moisture pooled between her legs, her need strong and growing stronger the more he played.
“You’re driving me crazy. Please,” she panted, petting his hair, his shoulders, any bit of him she could reach.
Ty slid a finger between her folds, parting her so he could better see her beautiful response. Swollen and wet, her sex beckoned him closer. He closed his mouth over her clit and pushed his finger inside her.
She bucked against his mouth and he groaned, consumed by her essence. Everything about the woman resonated on his level. He thrust his tongue into her, lapping up her scent now ingraine
d into his brain. She grew wet for him. Not anyone else, but Ty.
He toyed with her pussy, eating her and fucking her with first one finger then two. Her nub grew taut, filling out as she neared her climax. Her breathy cries pierced the remaining, crumbling walls around his heart until he fell headlong into love. So deep, so fast, he wanted to sink inside her and never leave.
“Come for me, baby. Come hard,” he rasped.
She cried out and shook, clenching his fingers tight as she spasmed. Enthralled with her response, he ignored the pull on his cock and continued to caress and put pressure on the tight bud under his thumb, wringing out her pleasure until she was spent.
“No more,” she groaned and sagged beneath him.
“Just a little bit more,” he said thickly and climbed on top of her. Pushing past her swollen folds, he eased into her snug sheath, ready to blow. It didn’t take him but three thrusts until he came inside her, showering her with more of his come.
She wrapped her arms around him, kissing his chest as he spent. Content to remain inside her forever, he didn’t move until she nudged him.
“You’re getting heavy.”
He groaned and withdrew, leaving a mess all over her thighs. “You smell like me. I like it.”
“Alpha jerk.” She snuggled into his arms, and the moment felt surreal.
“Please don’t tell me I’m dreaming.”
“I could say the same.”
Thoughts swirled and danced, images of potential tomorrows if he didn’t muck up today. He had never taken as big a risk as he was about to. But he couldn’t hold it back any longer. Ty prided himself on truth and fairness. He couldn’t deny himself or her for one more minute. “Julia?”
“Hmm?” She sounded half asleep.
“I love you.”
She froze then leaped on top of him. Her cute little nose twitched. “Say that again.”
Ty sighed, lost to everything but the fiery woman of his dreams. “I love you. The hot redhead with a temper and the cool professional who works for my ex-best friend. I’ve been in lust with you forever. In love with you for minutes, days, hell, probably years. You’re loyal to your sisters, you love with all your heart, and I want to spend the rest of my life pissing you off.”