by Aubrey Rose
Jordan glared at him. Fire flaired in the look she gave him. “Aric!” She jabbed him in the ribs. “Really, Mrs. Wolfe, it was nothing. Just think some of your guests aren’t human friendly.”
“They had to really scare her, mom. She was up a tree from what I heard.” Mason grinned, taking a long swallow of his beer and lifting his feet up to the coffee table. His mother proceeded to slap him at the knees.
“Who the hell would do that?” His father growled. The golden hue of his wolf was visible in his eyes. A protector through and through, the Alpha would not stand for anyone to hurt one of his. And he most certainly saw Ellie’s friends as part of the pack.
“Some white wolves.”
His mother frowned. “White?” Then she turned to her mate as she took a seat beside him. “We don’t know any whites, do we?”
“I’m not sure. We invited so many different Alpha daughters for you boys. And you know they all came with their own guards.”
His mother lifted an arched brow and rubbed a hand on her husband’s leg. “Well then,” She smiled at the group, “we’ll just have to tell them all to leave.”
“Oh, don’t ask your guests to leave for me.”
Jordan’s grip tightened on Aric’s hand, and he knew she was embarrassed. She had always been quiet and polite to his parents. Though the same courtesy didn’t apply to him. Their conversations tended to end up in a he-said she-said of sarcastic remarks. He knew she wanted him. She was his, and no matter how much she fought it, she’d come to realize it sooner or later.
“Nonsense, my dear. You’re family.” His mother’s brows dipped. “Nobody threatens my family.”
That moment was enough for Aric to want to run out and hunt a deer or two for his mom. She’d said exactly what he hoped she would in regard to Jordan.
The rumble of a vehicle brought his attention out to the front yard. Caleb’s pick-up stopped in front of his house. Aric stood and marched outside with his father and brother.
An angry Caleb and four of his men stomped out of the truck. “We found the girl.”
Aric’s stomach tightened. “And?”
“She was dead.”
Aric had that feeling. “Do you know who did it?”
A short shake of his head was Caleb’s his only answer. He pulled him to the side, leaving his father and brother with the other men.
“Do you need us to back you up?”
Caleb’s wolf rose to the surface. The rough growl of his voice was almost unintelligible. “No.”
“The time for my fight is drawing near. I will take back what’s rightfully mine. My pack. My people. My land,” Caleb snarled.
“I am here... We are here. Anything you need.”
“I need to do this on my own,” Caleb stated, glancing toward the house.
Aric nodded. “She’s not here.”
Caleb turned to face the windows where Aric’s mother and Jordan watched them. A frown marred Jordan’s brow while she bit her lip.
“Yours?”
“Mine.”
“Congratulations.” Caleb’s words were heartfelt. He knew how hard it was for them to find someone both man and wolf wanted. Someone they could grow to love.
“Ellie waits for you.”
“I know. But it’s not the right time.” Caleb turned to the men waiting by the pick-up.
“Be careful. Call on me if the need arises.” He would never stop offering his best friend help at a difficult time.
Caleb nodded and joined the others in the pick-up before leaving.
Ellie, Jake, and Nathan arrived a short time later. They sat down for dinner and discussed the need to remove anyone placing threats on humans.
“We’ll take care of asking them to leave.” Nathan and Jake stated at the same time.
Ellie spoke softly to Jordan. “Are you alright? Were you scared? Did they hurt you?”
Jordan grinned and sucked her teeth. “Me? Come on, chica. It would take a lot more than a couple of mutts barking to scare me.”
His father choked on his laughter. “Good to hear that, Jordan. We’d hate to see you scared.”
“Brave girl.” His mother praised.
Jordan blushed and guzzled down her water. Aric was proud of her. Her fearlessness was priceless and exactly what was needed for a future Alpha mate. He twined his and Jordan’s fingers together on his lap. She tried to tug them out of his hold but he didn’t budge, so she stopped. His parents’ words warmed his heart.
The conversation turned to removing the guests from the area to ensure human safety.
“They all leave,” his mother ordered.
When Barbara Wolfe spoke, everyone listened.
Chapter Five
Aric watched Jordan’s SUV enter her driveway. He waited. Her sexy, curvy body covered in sweaty yoga gear exited her car. With flushed, sweat covered skin and hair that hung in a limp ponytail, she appeared to be exhausted. She dragged her feet as she made her way into the house. He continued to wait. A few moments later, he heard the shower running. He used the spare key Ellie had given him and entered the house.
Without hesitating, he went straight for her bedroom. In the midst of a shower, he heard mumbling from her bathroom. She groaned about letting her friends talk her into exercise. She muttered that her body hated the stuff. He shrugged off his clothes. His cock went instantly erect at the thought of Jordan naked. Naked and wet.
Steam filtered under the door of the bathroom into the bedroom. He’d given her space, even allowing Ellie to take her home after dinner at his parents. That had been five days back.
All week he’d watched her go to and from work, carefully guarding her from the shadows to ensure she didn’t encounter any more trouble. But she’d continued to ignore his calls. There would be no more playing nice.
He gripped the cool knob, turning it without hesitation. The heat of the bathroom enveloped him. She was so wrapped up in her solo conversation she didn’t hear him. Though he had stealth, the soft squeak of the lock was not something he could stop.
He slipped inside the tub. She had her eyes closed. Water rained over her head and down her bare body. A low rumble sounded in his chest. Her golden skin was flushed. Her nipples were puckered tight, calling him for a taste. And the scent of her arousal made it impossible to stay quiet. His wolf growled, the sound riding up from his balls and through his throat.
Her eyes jerked open. Darkness filled them until her pupils ate up the brown.
“Aric.” She used that fuck-me voice that turned his cock concrete stiff. “What are you doing here?”
“You. Mine.” That was the best he could do. The wolf was jerking at the skin. He wanted her and the beast did too.
“I––”
Two steps and there was nothing between them. Her eyes widened. She licked her lips. He lost it.
He pushed her from under the spray and back against the cool tile. Their lips met in a rush. There was no careful. Gone was the idea of taking things easy. He needed her. The beast pushed at his skin, wanting loose. They both wanted a taste of his mate. Aric fought to control the savagery of the animal. It was nearly impossible. Then Jordan shoved her tongue into his mouth and bit his lip.
Fuck slow.
She raked her nails down his shoulders. A shudder rocked his body. As if that weren’t enough torture, she curled a leg around his waist and rubbed the heat of her pussy over his cock. Lust drove his thoughts.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
He cupped her face in his hands, driving his fingers into her wet hair and pulling her head back to an angle he wanted. He gripped her hair, loving her loud moan. The scent of her arousal grew thicker in the small space.
She pushed him until they were turned and his back was to the tile. He growled low in his chest. The sound vibrated through their kiss. She pulled back and he snarled. A soft smile played on her lips.
She laughed before rushing out of the shower. “Catch me if you can.”
There was no time for games.
He needed to be inside her. Water dripped down his body as he shut off the spray. He moved fast and caught her at the edge of the bed. She squealed.
She tried to turn over in his arms, but he wasn’t having it. The beast was in control. He held her by the waist and yanked her on the bed with him. His cock jerked. She lay there, face and upper body flat on the bed with her ass high in the air. Water clung to her caramel skin and sexy curves. There was no doubt in any area of his mind this was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen.
“Aric?” She’d make him come with her throaty voice soon.
She wiggled her hips and pressed back into his pelvis. The head of his cock nudged at her pussy entrance. And fuck if she didn’t suck him right in. He groaned. He tried to tell himself he should ready her for him first but her slick entrance wrapped tight around his cock and drew him in. There was no thinking, just feeling. He dropped on all four and drove deep.
Her pussy rippled around him in a tight suctioning that made him see double.
“Oh, God.” She whimpered into the sheets.
Gripping the long strands of her hair, he tugged her head back and pulled his cock almost out of her and thrust hard. He twisted her head to watch her features while he fucked her. Each drive of his cock into her tight pussy made her moan. She licked her lips and fisted the sheets in her hands. He pulled her hair back and kissed her. The deep strokes into her sleek channel made it hard for him to hold on. The wolf wanted a taste. Fur pushed at his pores. His skin felt tight. Animal hunger turned him rougher, propelling back and thrusting forward in punishing speed. He moved faster, harder inside her.
“Aric!”
He continued fucking her rough, slamming her pussy with his cock until she was screaming and her body was shaking with the force of her climax. He couldn’t stop. He continued pumping in and out of her at record speed. He snarled and licked the back of her shoulder. The same spot he’d marked her. The wolf wanted his mate but it wasn’t time yet. He slid a hand down her ass to lubricate his thumb with her honey.
She moaned again. Begged him to continue. He slipped his wet thumb into her ass. The tight little hole tightened around his digit the same way her pussy did around his cock. Her breath hitched. He rode her hard. But she didn’t back down. Instead she propelled back into his driving cock.
“Mine!” He snarled
“Yes yes yes yes...”
His orgasm tore down his spine and rushed its way to his cock. He roared, emptying himself in her quivering sex. She tightened around his cock, milking him deep. Her pussy contracted repeatedly with her second orgasm.
Chapter Six
Jordan moaned “Oh my...”
Her bones liquefied. She panted. Aric was still coming inside her. Deep inside her. Coating her with his cum. For some reason that thought alone made her hot for the man all over again. She’d had a sucky day at the school and then had allowed her friends to talk her into hot yoga. It had been pretty good for her lungs, but not that good for her muscles. She’d come home whining about her sucky day.
Aric pulled out of her and lay on her bed. He dragged her to drape half over him. Thank God. She couldn’t move if the house were on fire.
“That was...”
“Perfect,” he finished.
She continued to struggle breaths into her lungs. It had been perfect. It had been fan-fucking-tastic. “I’m...”
“Mine.”
He kissed her forehead. Whatever she’d been about to say wasn’t important. Being with him like this, in his arms, in her bed, together...that was everything.
“Relax, sweetheart,” he whispered into her damp hair.
Her throat closed up on her. Something big was going on here. Great sex did not mean commitment, but he kept saying she was his and she was starting to believe it. How could that be? She wasn’t a shifter. Heck she wasn’t even from a normal family. His words from the truck had been twirling around her brain for days.
But dammit all to hell she was scared. She came from a broken home. Nobody even acknowledged the word love in her family. And here was this tall, dark, and gorgeous man telling her he wanted her long-term. It was unreal.
Other than Ellie, this was the first time something good was happening to her in a long time. It wasn’t a situation she had ever found herself in before. Though she wanted to dissect it, she wasn’t going to question it or go against it. That is, unless things got weird. Life was too short for that crap. Her heart constricted at the emotions she had been fighting for Aric. She wouldn’t be able to fight them much longer. She sighed into his hold.
“Alright.” She yawned.
“Alright?”
“I’m yours...for now,” she whispered.
“No. Forever.”
For as long as things lasted. She drifted to sleep in his arms.
* * *
“I have an idea.” Excitement lit Emma’s hazel eyes.
“Uh-oh.” Nicole dropped on to a wooden desk chair in Jordan’s classroom. She ran a hand over her drooping ponytail. Her usually pretty curly brown hair was frizzing on the sides. Nic’s first grade class was one of the most active. It was clear she was exhausted and it was only the middle of the day.
“The last time you said I have an idea, we almost got kicked out of the school.” Jordan shuffled graded papers together and put them in a manila envelope.
Emma rolled her eyes. “Stop being such wusses.”
“Wusses?” Jordan turned wide eyes to Nic. “Did she just call us wusses?”
Nic nodded with a grin and threw a board eraser at Emma. “I believe she did.”
“Emma, we’re lucky to have jobs thanks to Karla’s brother being the dean at this school.” Jordan reminded her. “Your last idea was to take the kids to clean up the park in a bad neighborhood.”
“Hey, it was a great idea. They got to do some community service.”
True. “But we had no permission to go and paint a private park. You didn’t tell us the place belonged to a church. We’re lucky they didn’t press charges.”
Emma pursed her lips and dodged the eraser Jordan threw her way. “They should be ashamed to have a park looking that way with so many volunteers. We should have gotten a thank you instead of the police called on us.”
Jordan watched Emma search for something on her smart phone before glancing up at her. Emma’s hazel eyes had gone a deep green, which Jordan knew meant high emotion.
“Okay, what’s the idea?”
They were going to find out anyway, so it might as well be now.
“I’ve been thinking of those two wolves you mentioned.”
She’d told her friends the previous day about the white wolves at the clearing. Her new and strange relationship with Aric was not discussed much. It was still in the what-the-hell-is-this phase and really weird for her to think of being involved with him.
“So what about it?”
“Remember how you said the smaller white wolf had distinctive eyes you’d never forget?”
She nodded. Of course she remembered. It was what kept her ass on that branch. The cold hate she’d seen fill the wolf’s eyes had made her reconsider coming down from the tree.
“Mason owns a paranormal club we should check out. I heard that after the Wolfe’s asked everyone to leave, a bunch of them stayed near there and are now visiting his club at night.”
“A paranormal club?” Nic perked up.
Yeah. They were going to get in trouble.
“Not all paranormals. From what I understand, vamps aren’t welcome. But think about it,” she said. Enthusiasm coated her voice. “What if those white wolves are there? We all know that wolves may go back and forth from human to beast, but the one thing that doesn’t change is their eyes.”
“That’s true.” Nic no longer sounded worried about getting into trouble. “What do you say, Jordan?”
“How do you even know about this place?” Jordan watched Emma with interest. She was too familiar with paranormals and shifters. If she didn’t know b
etter, she’d say Emma had been spying on Mason. Not that it would surprise her, since Emma was the nosiest of the bunch.
“Does it matter?” Emma shrugged. “I happen to know that tonight is one of the nights Mason isn’t at the club. He’s off doing something else. Best time to go check it out would be today.”
What could Jordan say? “What time do you want to meet up?”
Later that evening, they decided to keep Ellie out of the plans. With Jordan and Aric in a brand-new relationship, the last thing she wanted was for Ellie to feel conflicted over taking sides. Jordan was curious to know why the wolf had wanted to hurt her. It could just be something as simple as hating humans, but instinct told her there was more going on.
They sat in Emma’s car. Groups of people entered the non-descript building. Her stomach churned. She turned to her friends.
“Horny Wolfe?”
Emma shrugged and bit her lip attempting to hide her laughter. “I didn’t come up with the name, I just found the place.”
“There’s probably an orgy going on in there. And since I am the one looking for the white wolf, I think I should go inside first and make sure it’s safe before you two to come in.”
“What?”
“No”
Nic and Emma replied at the same time.
“If there’s an orgy going on, I want to watch.” Nic stared at the entrance longingly.
Emma laughed. “Perv.”
“Shut up, you know you wanna watch too.”
“Listen to me. If we all go in there and something goes wrong, who’s going to get help?” Jordan highly doubted that the single wolf, if it were there, would attack her in a place filled with Mason’s guards. Not when the Wolfes’ were known for protecting humans.
“Fine, Nic stays, and I go with you.” Emma pulled out her Taser.
“Emma, no. I am the only one that knows what I’m looking for. One human may be strange in there, but two of us will surely call attention.” Possibly the wrong, growly type.
Something about Jordan had turned that wolf aggressive. She needed to know what.
“Here,” Emma slapped an earpiece into her hand. “Try not to lose this one.”