by E A Price
He would have just eaten it out the dish with his fingers, but his mom tried her best to civilize her sons.
“Uh, Dozer had to work or something,” – Mal had called wanting him immediately.
“And Dex?” she prompted.
“Ah, he, ah, met someone, and went home with her,” he said, thoroughly embarrassed to have to admit that to his mom, before digging into the lemon meringue pie.
His mom gave him a pitying look and he redoubled his efforts in trying to finish the pie.
“You know, honey, there are half a dozen females who would love to be set up with you.”
Jax grunted and his inner beast chuffed. He doubted that. The last and only time he allowed his mom to set him up, it ended in disaster. He might have spilled his coke all over her at the movies. Then spoiled the ending of the movie for her when he blurted out the name of the killer. Plus, he forgot his wallet so she had to pay for everything. Then he caught and tore her dress in the car door when helping her out. After which he gave her a colossal head butt when trying for a clumsy kiss. Yeah, he wasn’t surprised when she didn’t want to see him again. It was his one and only date and it had not gone well.
“I’m fine, Mom,” he muttered, before shoveling more pie.
She pursed her lips but didn’t press the matter, not given that his dad had started calling for her. Apparently, he’d had enough recovery time and was looking for another round of loving. His mom’s eyes sparkled expectantly.
“You’re a handsome boy, you deserve someone special and we’ll talk about this later,” she said before virtually running out of the room.
Jax sighed and finished off the pie. He found the remains of a cherry pie in the fridge and started working on finishing that, too. Another reason he hated rutting season so much – to make up for his own lack of sexual prowess, he ate twice as much as usual. But he was so pent up that he also worked out more, so it did work out, but he would be very glad when it was over.
Though at least the season did keep his mom slightly distracted. She wasn’t wrong – he did want a mate, he just wasn’t sure there was a woman out there who wanted his shy and bumbling ass.
Chapter Five
Heather rolled her eyes as she led Carson into her apartment. Jeez, it was just a belt! But ever since she admitted that she thought she still had it, he hadn’t stopped yammering about getting it back. Apparently, he wasn’t interested in a repeat of their acrobatic sexual escapades, but he was willing to come all the way to her apartment for a stupid belt. It was his grandpa’s belt and a family keepsake – yadda, yadda, yadda. She couldn’t wait to give him the damn belt and get him the hell out. Even her excitable pussy had gone to sleep while listening to all the crappy belt talk.
She stomped into her bedroom, none too graciously and rummaged in the spare closet until she found the ‘ex-box.’ Her bedroom had two walk-in closets, clearly being designed with a couple in mind. But, she kept her junk in the spare closet. In particular, the box where she kept things her exes had left behind. They weren’t stored for sentimental reasons; she never took out the box and rifled it through it for a starry-eyed trip down memory lane. Nope - they were just there in case any of the guys turned up and wanted their stuff back. Like with the stupid belt. Hey, her relationships did end amicably, for the most part, so she didn’t really want to throw anything away or burn it. It was a just a box that took up an empty corner of her spare closet. It had never really bothered her.
Although, this guy and his damn belt were starting to piss her off.
Heather tugged the box out and ransacked it until she found an old belt with a garish belt buckle featuring a big cat – a cougar she supposed. Yeah, she could see how he wouldn’t want to part with this gem.
“This it?” she asked, brandishing it in his direction.
He pushed off from the doorframe he had been leaning against and stalked towards her. “Yeah,” he drawled, “that’s it.”
Heather tossed it toward him and stood up. “Well, I guess we can say goodnight then.”
All this belt talk had really dampened her ardor. She wasn’t usually a petty person, but his strange behavior was really grating and frankly odd. Maybe the belt was worth a lot of money or had a lot of sentimental value. But then, why hadn’t he been clamoring to get it back over the past year?
Carson came to stand in front of her, and she craned her head to look at him. He was a big sucker.
“Oh no, I want you to keep it.”
He pressed the belt into her hands, and she frowned at him. “But I thought…”
“Heather Tam, I, Carson Bell of the Ritchley pride claim you as my mate.”
“I’m sorry, what now?”
He chuckled, yet he was completely serious. “I am claiming you as my mate. You are therefore mine.”
Heather blinked at him while he grinned inanely. She wasn’t sure how long they stood there like that. But by the time her mind trudged into gear, she was getting achy from staying in the same position for too long. She’d like to say she had a witty comeback to the bombshell, but the only thing that came out was noise.
“Gah!”
Chapter Six
Jax stood stone still. He was almost as good as his older cousin Tank at not moving, though not entirely. Nobody could be as statue-like as his behemoth of a cousin.
He kept his eyes trained on Marion’s desk, and in his peripheral vision, he could see the entrance to Temp’s office. He was there ostensibly to guard Temp, who ran the charity center and was mated to the alpha’s younger brother, and third, Harlan. But he was also there to watch her assistant Marion who had recently mated with Tank and was currently pregnant with their first calf. They already had three girls from Marion’s previous marriage to a wolf shifter, and unlike the other enforcers who were often assigned to the center, Jax actually enjoyed entertaining them. They were cute and fun and didn’t expect him to be exciting or charming – which he definitely wasn’t.
One of the other enforcers – Burke – had sneered at him, saying that Jax had actually found some people on his intellectual level. That was right before one of the twins – Izzy – had managed to kick a ball directly into Burke’s nards. He limped for hours.
There were plenty of people milling around the center, plenty of females he thought with a gulp. He looked to his inner reindeer, and the bashful beast turned away. He had a huge reindeer, large and strong as hell, yet he was just as shy and awkward as the man he shared a body with.
That morning at family breakfast – every meal was fast becoming family torture– his mom had grilled him about his love life. He really needed to start getting up earlier and eating breakfast on the go. There wasn’t anything to tell. He didn’t have one. He wasn’t alone though, both Dozer and Dex – also both single - were given the same attention. Though, Jax perhaps bore the brunt of her probing smothering, given that he was her only son who hadn’t brought a girl home for her to meet. Though Dozer hadn’t made the same mistake twice, and the scary girls whom Dex dated had rather put his mom off encouraging him to bring any others home.
Their father had cajoled her into leaving his boys alone, and then the exchange between his parents had turned flirtatious. Then they had retired to their room for some ‘privacy.’ Then their mated brothers did the same with their females. Which left Dozer, Dex, and Jax trying to eat breakfast while pretending they couldn’t hear half their family enjoying carnal relations. He really would be glad when rutting season was finally over, and he really, really needed to start getting up earlier.
But, his mother’s ham-fisted attempts at trying to cajole him into finding a female hadn’t been completely lost on him. Since he was a teenager and just starting his shift, he had felt the effects of the season more and more keenly each year. He did want a female; he was just a little unsure about how to get one.
He wasn’t completely innocent when it came to women. He had coupled with a female after a herd run when he was eighteen. It had been short but satisfy
ing, and he felt incredible… until the female called him Dex and that had completely ruined the mood. She thought he was his brother. Thankfully, she had mated into another herd, and he no longer had to share embarrassingly awkward glances with her at the runs.
Jax allowed his eye to wander marginally away from Marion’s desk, and he caught sight of a couple of women his own age. Maybe he could smile at them. Yeah, perhaps just smiling would work. His reindeer was all for it.
He smiled. They saw him. They frowned. They sneered. He sagged. But before he could really mope, the sweetest voice caught him off guard.
“Cheer up, handsome; it may never happen.”
Chapter Seven
Heather pressed her lips together, so her smirk wasn’t quite so pronounced. But seeing such a large, well-muscled young man blush was quite a funny sight.
He was decked out in black trousers, boots and a black t-shirt that hugged his gorgeously buff frame. She figured he was one of the reindeer army who were sent to guard Temp and Marion on a regular basis. Oh, to be surrounded by huge, brawny young men every day! She was rather jealous. Though, a little bit more jealous than she had been since this one came into view.
He was smaller than Tank – the gargantuan male who had mind-bogglingly married the tiny Marion – but he was still pretty big. Enormous really compared to her tiny five-foot-nothing physique. Of course, she wore five-inch-heels, but they still barely put a dent in their height differences.
She imagined being in bed with this beast would be somewhat like being smothered. Her lips curled as she imagined the blushing young man in her bed, as she imagined those huge, rough-looking hands all over her body...
She had a strong, almost predatory desire to see whether she really could lure him back to her apartment. No wonder her mom thought she was a sex maniac. But Temp might not like her dallying with the herd members. Plus, she had actually come here for a reason.
“I’m Heather,” she declared, pretending she wasn’t covertly ogling him and trying to work out whether he would look as fabulous naked as he did clothed.
“Ummm…”
“Hello, Ummm, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she teased.
He shifted uneasily, and the bright red hue of his cheeks deepened. Heather felt her smile widen. There was something disarmingly cute about him. He looked like he could flatten a car with his mighty fists, and his head appeared to have been carved out of granite. But for some reason, she found him sweet, and in spite of her pressing need a moment ago, she was reluctant to move on and let him go. Loath to allow some other woman to be the object of that deep, blue gaze.
Alas, she could not stand around enjoying herself all day.
“Heather?”
Temp spotted her and Heather cast a regretful, wistful look at the giant young man and gave him a jaunty wink before making her way into Temp’s office.
*
Five minutes later, and Jax’s blush was still going strong. He stared at Temp’s office door, barely daring to blink lest she come out and he miss her. Heather.
Tank had told her that Temp’s friend Heather sometimes came around, but he hadn’t met her before. She hadn’t been around when he was there, and at that moment he was both glad and peeved.
From the curl of her amused lips to the sparkle of her mischievous eyes, she was breathtaking. She was a tiny, petite creature, with glossy black hair, dark brown eyes and a smattering of freckles over her upturned nose.
He’d met beautiful women before – of course, he had. He’d spent much of his youth panting after his gorgeous herd mates. But he’d never been so instantly smitten with any of them. Never so embarrassingly aroused at just a note of charmingly taunting laughter. Even his reindeer was taking an interest.
Jax thought that maybe she had been flirting with him… but, then, why would she? Why would a beautiful woman like her flirt with an uncouth, unworldly idiot like him? She probably dated rich, interesting successful men, and he was just a guy who lived at home with his parents and was too shy even to tell her his name.
His reindeer sagged. Still, even if he didn’t have a chance with her, it didn’t stop him from thinking about her.
Chapter Eight
Heather peered through the blinds, looking out at the center. No, looking out at the young man who had taken her fancy.
“What are you doing?” asked Temp.
“Just watching Ummm,” murmured Heather.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
She narrowed her eyes as Ariel approached him and he immediately jumped to attention to help her. Ariel was tall, blonde, in her early twenties and very sweet. Heather usually paid her no mind, but as the younger woman’s hand rested on Ummm’s arm, she felt a flash of irrational irritation.
Heather dropped the blinds and turned to face Temp and Marion who were both watching her curiously. She almost blushed, but she didn’t because Heather didn’t get embarrassed. If anything that anyone else would typically consider embarrassing happened to her, she just laughed it off. Nearly getting caught ogling a young man should never elicit a blush. No indeed, Heather was very forward with men – there was no point waiting around for the man to make the first move, else she may be waiting all day. But, while she instantly liked the young man out there, she was a little reticent. Perhaps it was his age. He did look rather young in spite of his massive size. Maybe it was that she’d never felt quite so instantly smitten before, or quite so annoyed at the thought of him even touching another woman.
“Anyway,” she said briskly, “I need help.”
“Is everything okay?” asked Temp.
“Not sure,” admitted Heather pursing her lips.
With uncharacteristic halting uncertainty, she told her friends of her encounter with Carson. The man was now firmly in the ‘crazy, I never want to see him again’ ex category, rather than the ‘I have fond memories of him and wouldn’t mind hooking up again’ category.
After his outrageous declaration the previous night, he had merely left the apartment, and left her still gaping after him. After that, she watched a little TV without really watching it, before finally giving in and going to bed. She could pretend that she tossed and turned all night, but honestly, she was lights out when her head hit the pillow. Heather was a firm ‘eight hours a night’ girl, and no amount of worry would stop that.
Temp and Marion gaped at her, sporting much the same expression that she had when Carson dropped his strange bombshell.
“Why didn’t you call me right away?” said Temp, incredulous. “Harlan and I would have come over.”
“So would Tank and me,” added Marion.
Which was why she didn’t call them, Marion was pregnant and had three kids to take care of, while Temp worked all hours at her charity center – they both needed their rest.
“It was fine,” said Heather loftily. “It was late, and I didn’t want to wake you. Besides, after he made his insane declaration he left right away, and I was about ready to get some sleep.”
“I would hardly say it was fine,” argued Temp.
“I’m amazed you managed to sleep at all last night,” said Marion.
“Oh, Heather can sleep anywhere and under any conditions,” said Temp drily. “Trust me; we shared a room for years. If there’s one thing she can do, it is sleep.”
Heather conceded that was true. She wasn’t one to dwell on worries and never dreamed or had nightmares. She was a deep sleeper and had fallen asleep in class, at lunch and at parties in college. Thankfully, her loud snoring and violent sleep-punches put off anyone considering taking advantage of her unconscious state. She’d broken two noses and chipped a tooth of those who had thought she was easy-pickings while asleep.
“Heather,” murmured Temp, pursing her lips.
“Uh uh, don’t make that face – my mother makes that face.”
Though at least Temp was making it out of worry, and not because she thought Heather was some kind of sex-crazed alien who was purposefully
refusing to settle down and give her grandkids out of spite.
Temp worried her lip. “He didn’t say anything like this when you were dating a year ago, right?”
Heather arched an eyebrow and gave her a wry look. “I think I would have remembered. Though he did scare the ever-loving hell out of my neighbor, threatening to cut off his ponytail and force feed it to him, because he was sure the guy was giving me flirty looks.”
“Jeez,” muttered Marion, “the dating world is rough. Thank goodness I’m married.”
Temp murmured her agreement. Heather bit her tongue before she pointed out that before they both were married to reindeer of their dreams, that Temp had dated complete assholes who cheated on her, and that Marion had been married to a cruel wolf shifter who thought nothing of tossing her out on her ass – while pregnant. Heather wasn’t the only one with clowns in her dating closet. But, she didn’t say a word because they were happy, and she was content for them to be smug and married… unless they became absolutely unbearable.
“I mean, he’s just talking out his ass, right?” asked Heather. She was still a newbie to the shifter world, but surely male shifters couldn’t go around forcing women – human or otherwise – to marry them because of some silly belt, and a fugly belt nonetheless. “There’s no way he can claim me as a mate, surely?”
“Logically no,” said Marion slowly, “but shifters have some funny rules in place.”
“Yes,” agreed Temp. “Harlan tried to explain some of them, and I was just confused.”
“You also got confused by that murder mystery weekend we went to,” teased Heather. “Remember how you got everyone together and accused the bellboy who was already ‘dead’?”
Temp groaned. “That’s because I fell asleep and missed his murder. You were supposed to wake me up, but you were too busy flirting with the actor playing the big game hunter.”
“What a waste of time that was – he was gay and married.”