by Daphne Snow
“Your mate must be very proud of you.”
“I uhm don't have a mate. Not from lack of trying. I think maybe I'm not cut out to have a mate or boyfriend really. Too busy with stuff...yea.” She trailed off again her voice wavering at the end.
Alexander could feel the heat rising in the backseat as her breathing changed. It was husky and wild instead of a steady easy pace. He continued to look at her, his face unchanging as he did. He didn’t want her to see the effect she was having on him not yet.
“Is it that the people you date don’t satisfy you?” He knew they couldn’t. Francesca needed a man not a boy with fumbling fingers. He knew it would take skilled hands to bring pleasure to this honeyed goddess next to him. We should give her pleasure. She is ours after all.
That beautiful dewy scent mingled with his own permeated the air. Her tight fitting black jeans had hugged every curve and more. It made him wonder how warm he'd feel between her thighs. And her heavy breast though locked uptight under her jacket he bet swayed with an undeniable passion. So soft, she looked so undeniably soft and the constant hopefulness in her eyes drew him in.
He wanted to grab her up into his arms and hold her. Look into her eyes and see what it was that made her believe there was still good in this world. Because all he had known was pain and hatred for so long. Alexander didn’t believe in hope he didn’t believe in trusting others. Yet here was this mysterious woman who trusted him enough to get into his car, trusted him enough to sass him and not hold back.
Francesca was quickly becoming the most tempting thing he had ever encountered.
He was trying so hard from the moment he saw her to not touch her. Afraid of what would happen if he did. That kiss on her hand earlier had nearly torn his mind apart. Somewhere deep down in the pit of his stomach he suspected this to be more than the excuses he had been throwing around.
His bear was never like this, he was never like this. In his years of working with the shady underbelly of Brooklyn, he had met countless women. All attractive but not one could truly tempt him nor his bear. Yet this woman had been in his gaze for mere hours and he was imagining her in his home in his bed. It was beyond measure for him.
“Still sticking your nose where it doesn't belong huh, Alexander?” The sound of his name on her lips is what finally put him over the edge. He reached over to gently grab her chin and turn it up towards him. He would regret it he thought even as he relished in the feel of her soft skin. She felt like silk under his fingertips.
With his hands bare a jolt of electricity shot through them bouncing off each other. He saw her pupils dilate and he knew she felt it too. She had to have felt it too.“You know it's rude to not look at people when you're talking to them.”
Francesca's eyes were hazy like she was in a trance. His desire to be with her twitched in his cock. Take her now. Claim her. Axl growled in his mind.
He could smell her arousal. She wanted no, she needed him. Just as badly as he needed her right now.
“Now answer me. Could they not satisfy you?” His words were demanding and hurried; he was going to get an answer. Alexander didn’t like to be denied.
“No.” It was whispered but audible. He loved that.
Her eyes were shining that beautiful amber and brighter now over taking the brown. Her bear was near the surface and she was strong. Axl preened in pleasure at that. He could spend his entire life staring into those eyes.
Control was slipping fast and he tried hard to regain it, failing miserably. He slipped his other hand in the back of her head. Tugging at the locks until the hair tie had become loose. He gently freed it and watched as her hair fell around her shoulders.
Gods, she was gorgeous.
“Do you think I could satisfy you?” He slipped his hand from her scalp to the nape of her neck running his thumb over the throbbing pulse in an intimate motion. He used his other hand to grab her up and onto his lap where her soft ass cushioned his prominent cock outlined in his trousers.
She gasped just a touch in surprise. Francesca placed her hands on his chest clearly squeezing just a little. He couldn't help the sly grin he sported.
Francesca was so warm and the heat, the attraction between them was electrifying. Unlike anything he had ever felt, ever witnessed in his life. He was becoming more and more drawn to her by the second. Her mere presence sucking him so far into the void Alexander knew he would never come out. At this rate he didn’t want to.
Her lips started to part beckoning him. A beautiful bow inviting him. He neared her lips with his face just slightly hovering there. Take her. Make her ours. His hand came down squeezing her thigh as the other caressed her face in an claiming touch.
Her beautiful soft skin felt better than he could have ever imagined. He wanted to lick and suck every inch of her body.
When she didn't answer him he ran his hand back to her scalp and tugged there. That illciatied a moan from her so delicious he found himself prickling with goosebumps under his suit. “Answer me Francesca.” His voice was calm, non-threatening, he just wanted to hear her say it.
Her eyes fluttered for a moment and she wanted to look away but he held her firm. Their breaths were hot and intertwined by their closeness. Clearly seeing she had no choice she answered.
“Y-yes.” He dipped his head coming close to her ear and then with a hot sigh he said. “Good girl.” She shuddered at that, her arousal which had already been apparent now so potent he was glad Carl wasn’t a shifter or he would smell it as well.
She liked to be called a good girl, well he could certainly do that. She dipped a tentative hand into the collar of his shirt. The groan that escaped him from that simple touch was threatening.
He bent down to graze his canines at her neck unable to stop himself when his head felt stretched and tight. His jaw hurt and started to crack and jolt forward dislocating. She said nothing, just a small moan of pleasure escaping her.
He felt his nails become long, his canines large. He felt tufts of thick bristled fur grow from his back. Let us mark our mate. She and Fey belong to us.
His blood went cold.
He stopped regretfully pulling himself from her. He released his hold on her hair and moved her from his grasp gently and placed her back on the soft leather. His cock missed her warmth instantly.
Once she realized he was stopping she scooted over to the other end of the backseat bench. Her cheeks were flushed and she tightened her little fist into balls until her knuckles were white. She didn’t look at him as she grabbed up the fallen hair tie and pulled her hair back into what looked like a scalp ripping ponytail. Alexander simply straightened his suit jacket and ran his fingers through his hair.
He hated that he had done that to her, led her on, they had both wanted it but he knew it was too dangerous. She was too different, too tempting to stop at sex. The way her soft finger tips had grazed his collar bones had taken him to heights he didn’t know existed.
Control was freezing the lava like heat he was feeling for Francesca as he pushed Axl so far back into the recess of his soul the bear may never be allowed to go into form again. He couldn't mark her. She wasn't his mate. He couldn't make a permanent choice for the both of them due to a lust filled haze.
How had the grizzly known her bear's name? He could only assume that's who Fey was. It wasn’t common knowledge to know the name of an inner beast. That was reserved for communication between soul bonded shifters. Alexander and Francesca were not that, not soul bonded. He would never be soul bonded to another.
The heat still swirled around them now suffocating in its hold over him. He quickly grabbed two small cold waters from the mini fridge handing her one. His once sly smirk now a stone cold look of disinterest as she took the little water bottle from him.
She looked as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her. “I’m sorry.” She whispered to him quietly and he hated it. Hated that she apologized to him at all. She had nothing to be sorry for. He was the son of a bitch who touched
her in the first place.
“You have nothing to apologize for. I promised I wouldn't touch you. I'm sorry Miss Bianchi.” He looked away from her, his eyes returning to the passing buildings outside.
He heard her drink down the bottle of water hungrily. He couldn’t help but peek as droplets had fallen on her neck. Though he had created space between them his erection hadn’t subsided. Instead, his pants were unbearably tight, he still wanted her.
She wiped away the droplets with the back of her hand and sighed heavy.
Her gaze flicked to the sidewalk as it passed by and then frantically looked around at the handles of the car. After spotting one on Alexander's side she lunged forward over his lap and pressed it for a moment. She was trying to kill him, that's what it had to be because the groan that ripped from him was painful.
He had to admit she was observant though. That little button had been hidden behind his body when he originally pressed it. There was no way she could have known where it was without watching him. That made him almost want to smile...almost.
She looked up at him, her cheeks red. “Sorry.” The privacy screen between the front and backseat descended showing Carl's smiling, knowing face. She quickly sat up right and smiled back at him all innocence in her gaze.
“It's right around this corner sir.” She seemed to be so comfortable talking to Carl already. Alexander couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at that.
Carl had been well into his sixties and she couldn't have been more than twenty-five. There was nothing for him to be jealous of. Yet he wanted her to smile at him and feel comfortable next to him. That wasn't going to happen anytime soon with him breaking promises already and asking questions she clearly wasn't comfortable with answering.
She was making him doubt himself. Did she think he was an attractive man? He normally had women flinging themselves at him. Some would kill for the chance to be this close to him yet Alexander wondered if he really had the effect on her like he thought he had. Maybe she was just playing along as he lost his mind.
“Were here.” Carl’s announcement hit him like a gut punch.
“Thank you, sir.”She smiled again at Carl and he tipped his hat and started to exit the car. Frannie all but leaped from the car leaving Benson behind.
Benson quickly hopped out of the car as well coming around to the trunk. Carl had hefted her things out of the trunk and she checked the luggage tag to make sure she was taking the right one.
Alexander noted they ended up on a quiet street. It was dark and there was a synagogue at the end of it. The smell of leopard shifters wafted through the air but nothing unfamiliar and dangerous. He decided she would be safe here.
Alexander met her on the sidewalk and offered a hand to help her with her things. She shook her head, her loose hair strands swaying in the chilled wind. "No thanks, I think I can take it from here."
“I can at least walk you up to the door." It wasn't an offer he was going to do it regardless. Benson had to make sure she would be safe. Her safety was pertinent to him right now and the only thing he could think of. She nodded her head seeing she had no choice. As they started walking near the door the first floor lights of the townhome came on.
A small yet very shapely figure showed up silhouetted behind the door curtain. A head peeked around the curtain looking through the doors' partial glass front. Frannie's friend he assumed, she looked rather excited, a big smile spread across her face. He was glad to see it wasn’t a man far from it in fact.
Then it hit him again how unique the situation was for him. The girl behind the door with her ebony ringlets of hair and darker tanned skin like caramel was a beautiful woman.
Yet Alexanders' eyes were wholly focused on Francesca. He was entranced by her and at this rate, no one could ever compete with this angel that had befallen him. He followed her up the short steps of the stoop of the townhome.
“Thanks again, Mr.Benson.” She seemed eager to get inside as she looked at her friend who had clearly been excited to see what happened next.
“Please call me Alexander." It had practically been a beg, he would be the last one to admit it though. "And I was more than happy to oblige.”
Don't leave her. They will take her from us. Claim her. He ignored Axl done with the bear's antics for the day.
“Thank you, Mr.Benson. Goodnight.” Her tone was still sweet yet sharp, denying him the satisfaction of her calling him by his first name one more time. He reached down to grab her hand wanting to feel that sweet electrical heat once more.
He stopped himself though afraid of what he might do. Having sex on a stoop in Crown Heights was not part of his nightly agenda.
He looked towards the door once more and the friend swung her head back and forth between the two of them her mouth agape in happiness. Her eyes were wide and sparkling as if she were watching the most interesting thing in the world.
“Good night, Francesca.” She blushed profusely at the way her name seductively rolled off his tongue. He tore himself from her gaze. He would miss the sight of those brilliant amber flecks that danced in her eyes like small fireflies.
He reluctantly returned to his car, each step taken away from her feeling like a struggle. Carl was holding the door open for him, waiting a smirk on his face.
“Oh quiet you old dog.” The older man chuckled a bit.
Alexander didn't turn back but he heard the door open and what sounded like a lot of excited whispers. Once he sat back down he didn't have Carl pull off until he was sure she was in the house.
He saw as she wheeled in the suitcase behind her. Her lovely plump rear end now out of sight behind the shut door. Before he got any crazy ideas of knocking on the door and hauling her away, he directed Carl to drive.
Carl was taking him to his home on the edge of Bay Ridge a few neighborhoods over. He was going to need a good run and a very cold shower.
"She's beautiful, boss.” He had to agree and nodded his head.
His bear was restless within him. He wanted to think this was all just one weird encounter but deep down he was afraid he may have just let his mate go.
He tried unsuccessfully willing the notion away. Men like him didn't have loving caring goddess fated mates. They had fuck toys, women or men there for a night and then gone by morning. That's all they were ever granted.
Benson wasn't much of a talkative man and Carl had learned that over the years. The old man had a knack for telling when Benson was off. So when he said, "Need me to take your bags in?" Benson hadn't been surprised. He just grunted out a yes and continued to think about the beautiful curvy body that once sat so blissfully cushioned in his lap.
Axl had taken to growling and snarling at him during the drive back. Demanding to go back and see the woman. Clawing at the mental cage he built for him.
He would have loved to if he didn't think it was the worst idea possible. Benson had to admit though his resolve was waning.
If she was his mate she would find a way back into his life he wouldn't need to push that. He had to trust in what the goddess had planned for him. If she wasn't however and he just marched back there and let his beast do whatever he wanted he could be trapping a poor girl with him for the rest of her life. He didn't have the gull to force someone to be with him.
To trap a man into giving him whatever he wanted, sure. But he wouldn't force Francesca or any other woman to share his bed though. It wasn't his way. His mother had raised him to be a gentleman. Even though it wasn't what his father wanted Benson had always been more inclined to listen to his mom.
He had noticed how Francesca had been hesitant with his touch in the car earlier. Though she seemed dazed in a haze of lust she also seemed to not entirely sink into the connection between them. Maybe she didn't feel the attraction to him like he thought.
He kept thinking for all the money and power he had he would give it all up to know she simply found him handsome. That she wanted him.
The fact that he was prepared to give up all his
hard work for a woman he had barely spent time with had him wracking his brains for more plausible answers than the idea of her being his mate.
He found none.
They had sped through the now mostly quiet streets before slowing down in a seemingly normal neighborhood. On the edge of the Bayridge neighborhood sat a street not many frequented. Every house was occupied by shifters. Most of them Alphas or leaders of their respective peoples.
Some of them even being from the council the overseers of shifters in the community. If someone was transitioning into power within their community the council had to make sure they were sound of mind. If someone thought to be involved in politics involving humans they had to clear it with the council first. And if there were to be an endangerment to the existence of the shifters the council was required to be informed.